Penguins shut out Ducks for fourth win in row

PITTSBURGH -- Casey DeSmith made 33 saves to help the Pittsburgh Penguins extend their winning streak to four games with a 1-0 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

The shutout was DeSmith's first of the season and seventh in 64 NHL starts. He has allowed one goal in his past two starts after surrendering a combined 17 in his first four this season.
"Having played recently helps a lot," DeSmith said, who earned the 6-1 win Dec. 6 against the Kraken. "The more I get in the net, the more comfortable I become. Pretty standard that the more you play, the more comfortable you feel out there. That was one thing. And then, just been working on going back to playing my game."
Brock McGinn scored in a second straight game for the Penguins (14-8-5), who have allowed a combined four goals in four straight wins. Sidney Crosby had his seven-game point streak end (13 points; three goals, 10 assists).

John Gibson made 15 saves before leaving after two periods with a lower-body injury for the Ducks (15-9-5), who had won their two previous games. Anthony Stolarz started the third period and made 13 saves in relief.
Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said Gibson is day to day, but hadn't talked with the goalie.
"I thought we played a solid road game," Eakins said. "That's the kind of game we want to play on the road. Pittsburgh's an extremely disciplined and well-coached team. I thought we had chances to win it. We came up short. Those sting."
Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf had three shots on goal in 21:25 of ice time in his return after missing the past five games with a lower-body injury.
"Overall, a decent game. I thought it was a little bit sloppy at times," Getzlaf said. "Wasn't a whole ton of flow to it. We did a good job of bottling up the neutral zone. … Didn't think we played with quite enough urgency throughout the whole game when it came to bearing down in certain situations. I wasn't overly pleased with that."

McGinn scored on the Penguins' first shot of the game, giving them a 1-0 lead at 5:12 of the first period. After entering the zone, Zach Aston-Reese sent a backhand pass to the left face-off circle to set up McGinn for a one-timer glove side.
"I think I just want to come out and play my game," McGinn said. "I always believed in my offense, but in Pittsburgh, I feel like I have a lot more confidence in my game and a lot more confidence with the puck."
Pittsburgh didn't have another shot until a slap shot from Crosby on a power play at 11:24 of the first. It was held to six shots on goal in the period.
Troy Terry had a chance to tie it after he stickhandled around Penguins defenseman Kris Letang at 7:33 of the second period. He went from his backhand to his forehand with DeSmith unable to get back to the post, but couldn't get off a shot into an open net.
"There's games like that," said Terry, who leads the Ducks with 15 goals. "For me, personally, there were some games this year where maybe I had one scoring chance and I scored on it. It's just how it goes.
"It's hard not to get frustrated. But after the game, I had a second to think. I keep [generating scoring chances], myself personally, I'm going to score goals. Our line's going to score goals. We had lots of chances."
The Penguins have allowed two goals or fewer in nine of their past 11 games.
"I think the players have just done a terrific job," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "These guys are committed. They want to win. They understand that if we're going to win games consistently, we can't just rely on scoring goals."
NOTES: Penguins forward Danton Heinen had two shots on goal in 14:28 of ice time in his first game against his former team since signing a one-year contract with Pittsburgh on July 29. He had 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in 52 games with the Ducks the previous two seasons. … Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom played his 100th NHL game. He has 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in the NHL. … After killing each of Anaheim's two power plays, Pittsburgh has not allowed a power-play goal in a franchise-record 13 straight games. The Penguins' NHL-best penalty kill (92.4 percent) has killed 30 straight power plays.