No Marc-Andre Fleury, no problem? Not exactly. With Fleury on the shelf with an upper-body injury, Filip Gustavsson got the start in goal and the Penguins shredded him in a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Wild Thursday night.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the first before the Wild got goals from Brandon Duhaime and Joel Eriksson Ek 12 seconds apart in the second period to tie the game.
The Penguins took a 3-2 lead into the third period thanks to a Kris Letang goal, and they made it 4-2 on Sidney Crosby’s power play goal midway through the third. It was Crosby’s second of the night and ninth of the season.
A shorthanded goal – the fourth of the season for the Wild – by Eriksson Ek cut the deficit to one, but only momentarily as the Penguins pushed the lead to 5-3 on Brock McGinn’s goal as he fought off two defenders and fired a shot from the high slot past Gustavsson.
Jake Guentzel’s empty-net goal made it 6-3 with 3:29 to play in the third.
Matt Dumba’s goal with 7.6 seconds left made the final score a little more respectable for the Wild, who fell to 7-8-2 this season.
Gustavsson allowed five goals on 30 shots on net.
Minnesota is now 2-5-1 at home this season. They lost just 10 games in regulation at the Xcel Energy Center during the 2021-22 season.
Related: Marc-Andre Fleury injury update; Wild change up lines
