3rd period sinks Canucks in road trip finale

PITTSBURGH, PA (NEWS 1130) – The Vancouver Canucks eastern road swing was regarded by many as a success even before the team took the ice in Pittsburgh on Saturday, although a 5-4 loss to the Penguins will certainly sting as the team heads back to Vancouver.

Jannik Hansen and Evgeni Malkin exchanged hat-tricks in this game. Both players scored their third of the day in the final frame, as Hansen’s tally came with just 16 seconds left, while Malkin scored twice in the final period to erase a 3-1 Vancouver lead.

Those two third period goals from Malkin came just 3:06 apart, and had erased everything the Canucks had done to that point. Bo Horvat beat Marc-Andre Fleury off the rush for his seventh goal in ten games to give Vancouver a 3-1 lead, but Malkin’s centering feed deflected off the stick of Linden Vey just 1:16 later to make it 3-2. A sloppy Vancouver line change led to the 3-3 goal, as Malkin put a shot high to the glove side on Ryan Miller.

The less heralded Bryan Rust beat Miller for his second goal of the season at the 13 minute mark to make it 4-3 Penguins – just seven full minutes after the Canucks had opened up that 3-1 lead. It was not the winning goal, however. Sidney Crosby registered an empty net goal to make it 5-3, before Hansen capped his second career hat-trick in the final minute.

Hansen got it started right away for the Canucks in the first with his 13th of the season off the rush. His shot beat Marc-Andre Fleury up high just 27 seconds into the game. Hansen would bury his 14th later in the period, converting a rebound on a shorthanded 2 on 1 break when Derek Dorsett hit the crossbar.

The Canucks led 2-0 after 20 minutes, and out shot the Penguins in the first period, but a march to the penalty box in the middle frame let the home side back in it. Evgeni Malkin converted on a 5 on 3, sending a slap shot from the right circle over the glove of Ryan Miller to cut the Vancouver lead to 2-1.

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