ST. PAUL http://www.denverbroncosteamonline.com/phillip-lindsay-jersey , Minn. (AP) —Kessel are doing their part, continuing to pile up points for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the team’s goaltenders might have been the headlining act in a big December.Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists, and Sidney Crosby added a goal and assist as Pittsburgh kept rolling with a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.Casey DeSmith, who stopped 40 shots to beat Minnesota on Dec. 20, made 31 saves for the Penguins, who have won eight of their past 10 games, a season-high six games in a row and finished December 11-3-1.DeSmith was 6-3-1 in December with a 2.39 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. Matt Murray, since returning from a lower-body injury, was 5-0 with a 1.38 goals-against average and .959 save percentage for Pittsburgh. Heading into the game, the two combined for a .931 save percentage in the month Womens Phillip Lindsay Jersey , which led the league.“I think they’ve got a nice, healthy competition amongst themselves right now,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “They’re both at their very best. They’re making timely saves for us. They’re making saves at key times in the game that give us a chance to either maintain a lead or get momentum back, whatever it may be.”Kessel has three points in each of his past three games and Crosby has four straight games with multiple points for Pittsburgh, which tied its season high with its fourth straight road win.Mikko Koivu scored for the first time in 15 games and Zach Parise added his 17th goal of the season for the Wild. Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves for Minnesota, which has lost eight of its past 11 games.“It was another pretty good effort by us,” Dubnyk said. “Obviously, it gets old. We’re all competitive and used to winning in here, so you don’t want to sit here and say over and over that we played well and had chances and made a good effort. But that’s the case.”The Wild snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday at Winnipeg and then opened the scoring against the Penguins.Koivu started a rush from his defensive zone and got a pass from Nino Niederreiter in the slot, sending a quick shot past DeSmith. It was the first power-play goal allowed by Pittsburgh in six games. They had killed 14 straight short-handed situations.It was Koivu’s 59th career power-play goal, tied with Marian Gaborik for most in franchise history.Given their first power-play Cheap Kerryon Johnson Jersey , the Penguins tied the game with Kessel sending a pass through defenseman Ryan Suter’s legs to Crosby alone on the back side for an easy tap-in goal.It was the fifth-straight goal on the power-play for Pittsburgh, which was 4 of 4 in a 6-1 win against St. Louis on Saturday. Crosby has 10 points in the past four games.Kessel scored his 17th goal of the season with 21 seconds left in the first period when his shot from the side deflected off Suter’s stick past Dubnyk.“We have given them a couple in the two games,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “There’s no ifs ands or buts on that. It’s very frustrating. It’s a frustrating theme of the way we don’t succeed sometimes.”Riley Sheahan scored in the second period for the Penguins and DeSmith was it his best in the period. Minnesota had 13 shots in a scoreless second, including several in which DeSmith made highlight saves.“It’s all about, as a goaltender, kind of managing in the game and knowing when they’re pressing and doing what you can to hold them off until your team finds a way to push back and respond,” DeSmith said. “Luckily, I was able to do that a little bit during the second period and we got some guys who did a great job finishing their chances tonight.”NOTES: Pittsburgh F Bryan Rust missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury he sustained in the previous game against St. Louis. He’s considered day-to-day. Zach Aston-Reese took Rust’s spot on Sidney Crosby’s line. … Penguins D Olli Maatta was a game-time decision with a lower-body injury but was in the lineup. Jamie Oleksiak was a healthy scratch for the second straight game after missing three games with an injury. … Minnesota D Nick Seeler (upper-body injury) skated before the game and coach Bruce Boudreau said Seeler could return on the team’s upcoming four-game road trip. … Crosby became just the second player in Pittsburgh history to play in 900 games. Mario Lemieux is the all-time leader in games played with 915.UP NEXTPenguins: Face the New York Rangers on Wednesday.Wild: Play Thursday in Toronto. With two games in two days, the surging San Jose Sharks are looking for a strong finish heading into the NHL’s Christmas break.They start on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the league-worst Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center.San Jose opened a four-game homestand with a 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, a blip on what’s been a pretty strong stretch of hockey in recent weeks.Article continues below ...“This might have been our best game in the last six games and it was the one we lost,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “We had a good effort. Some unfortunate bounces.” After losing a season-high four in row between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1 http://www.lionscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-kerryon-johnson-jersey , the Sharks have won seven of nine. DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury News on Friday that the team talked about what they wanted to accomplish before the league goes on hiatus for three days.“We had a goal 10 days to two weeks ago and we talked about our last seven games heading into the break,” he said. “We’ve won four out of the five since we started talking about it, so we want to finish this off.”Following this game, San Jose (19-12-5) faces another Pacific Division opponent when the Arizona Coyotes visit on Sunday. The Sharks are 5-2-1 against division foes this season.Erik Karlsson said following the win over the Jets that San Jose expects to be among the league’s elite, but there needs to be a full-time effort in each game.“Today, we showed it in bits and pieces. … You can’t make small mistakes early in the game, it’s going to come back and cost you,” said the Sharks defenseman, who’s riding an eight-game assists streak.After putting up 98 points last season, Los Angeles (12-20-3) is at the bottom of the league and has the fewest goals scored with 78. Coming up on the halfway point, no player on the club has cracked double digits in goals. Dustin Brown has a team-high nine after scoring 28 last season Authentic Kerryon Johnson Jersey , while Anze Kopitar has eight after a career-best 35 in 2017-18.The key to any sort of success this season, according to Drew Doughty, is shutting down the opposition.“The defensive style we play, that’s how we’ve got to win hockey games. That’s the bottom line. The only way this team is going to win hockey games is if we’re giving up max two goals a night,” the defenseman said after the Kings snapped a four-game winning streak with a 4-1 stunner over Winnipeg on Tuesday.That means better play from Jonathan Quick. He’s three wins shy of 300, but 0-4-1 with a 3.63 goals-against average on the road this season.Los Angeles has won four straight on the road and is 11-3-0 overall when allowing two goals or less in 2018-19.In the only previous meeting this season, Kevin Labanc scored in overtime to lift the Sharks to a 3-2 win over the Kings on Oct. 5 at Staples Center. San Jose and Los Angeles have split the last four meetings in Northern California and only one team in one game scored more than two goals.The Kings are expected to have Ilya Kovalchuk back in the lineup, according to Fox Sports West. The No. 1 overall pick in 2001 missed 10 games after ankle surgery.Kovalchuk returned to the league on a three-year deal in July, five years after leaving for the KHL. The 35-year-old winger has five goals and nine assists in 25 games this season.
