Pittsburgh: Eric Staal’s third-period goal proved to be the game-winner as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Thursday night.
Staal had two assists, giving him 51 points in 50 career games against Pittsburgh. Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter also scored for the Wild, who won for the fourth time in six games. Jared Spurgeon added an empty-net goal.
Minnesota defeated the Penguins for the first time in five meetings.
Devan Dubnyk, who made 39 saves, allowed fewer than three goals for the eighth straight game, which includes a streak of three consecutive shutouts.
Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist scored on the power play for Pittsburgh, who lost in regulation for the first time in eight games. It was Pittsburgh’s first regulation home loss this season.
Crosby has nine goals and 11 points in eight games since returning from a concussion that sidelined him for the first six games of the season.
Pittsburgh allowed a season-high 43 shots.
Meanwhile, Tommy Wingels scored the go-ahead goal at 8:53 of the third period to lift San Jose 4-2 over Florida.
Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns also scored for the Sharks. Martin Jones made 22 saves.
Jason Demers scored his first two goals of the season, both in the first period, for the Panthers. James Reimer stopped 25 shots, and Jaromir Jagr had an assist.
— AP
