Yikes. pic.twitter.com/tBuVv34aBV
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) January 14, 2015
The Minnesota Wild’s struggles on the defensive end of the ice continued Tuesday night as they dropped their sixth straight game, losing 7-2 to the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Niklas Backstrom surrendered 6 goals on 35 shots, continuing the inconsistent play in net for Minnesota. He was relieved by John Curry late in the third, when things got out of hand.
David Perron had a pair of goals for the Penguins and Minnesota native Paul Martin had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh. Penguin superstars Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for 5 assists on the night.
The game unraveled for the Wild after Jonas Brodin cut the Pittsburgh lead to one at 2-1. Just over a minute later the Penguins answered with a power play goal from Chris Kunitz, and things quickly got away from Minnesota from there.
The Penguins netted three more goals to build a 6-1 lead, before the Wild answered back for one late.
Afterwards a disappointed Mike Yeo refused to say the team quit.
#mnwild coach Mike Yeo after tonight's loss. Video: http://t.co/8sd3tkYw7c
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) January 14, 2015
The Wild head to Buffalo for a Thursday night game before returning home for Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday.
Scoring Summary
1st period: 6:16 PIT – Marcel Goc (2) Assist: Zach Sill (1), Craig Adams (4) 1-0 PIT
1st period: 12:04 PIT – David Perron (7) Assist: Christian Ehrhoff (10), Sydney Crosby (33) 2-0 PIT
2nd period: 5:12 MIN – Jonas Brodin (2) Assist: Nate Prosser (4), Jason Pominville (24) 2-1 PIT
2nd period: 6:45 PIT – PPG Chris Kunitz (13) Assist: Evgeni Malkin (29), Kris Letang (19) 3-1 PIT
3rd period: 5:03 PIT – Brandon Sutter (9) Assist: Paul Martin (7) 4-1 PIT
3rd period: 9:08 PIT – Martin (2) Assist: Nick Spaling (12), Malkin (30) 5-1 PIT
3rd period: 10:56 PIT – Letang (9) Assist: Perron (15), Crosby (34) 6-1 PIT
3rd period: 13:57 MIN – Justin Fontaine (4) Assist: Erik Haula (2), Ryan Suter (22) 6-2 PIT
3rd period: 16:39 PIT – Perron (8) Assist: Kunitz (14), Crosby (35) 7-2 PIT
