Penguins top Coyotes in eight-round shootout for third straight win

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Brandon Tanev scored with 3:02 remaining in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won an eight-round shootout for a 4-3 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Sunday.

Tristan Jarry made 24 saves and Teddy Blueger scored the decisive goal in the shootout for Pittsburgh (28-12-5), which swept its three-game road trip and is 14-3-1 in its past 18 games despite being without injured forwards Sidney Crosby (core muscle surgery) and Jake Guentzel (shoulder).
"We'll take the two points. Jarry]*
Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist and Adin Hill made 31 saves in his third start of the season for Arizona (25-18-4), which is 0-2-1 in its past three games after winning four straight. The Coyotes are without their top two goalies, Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta; each has a lower-body injury.
"When you have that many chances to end the game in the shootout, it's tough but tip your cap to their goalie. He made some good saves there at the end," Hall said. "It wasn't a complete 60-minute effort, but we found our game eventually and that's important for us."
Derek Stepan gave Arizona a 3-2 lead at 11:28 of the third on a pass from defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, who played in his first game since Oct. 12 because of a leg injury.
Tanev tied it 3-3 at 16:58 when he found a bouncing puck in the slot after a shot from the left point by Juuso Riikola.

Jared McCann's 5-on-3 power-play goal gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead 2:43 into the game. McCann scored in overtime for a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, which followed a 4-3 victory at the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
"It was obviously a great trip, playing against some really good teams who are playing really good hockey," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "The fact that we were able to take six points out of it is a credit to the team. They are playing hard, guys are competing out there, we're finding different ways to win, different guys are stepping up at key times and we're getting saves."
Conor Garland tied it at 1-1 off a pass from Hall at 14:23.

The Penguins outshot Arizona 22-7 in the second period, but their only goal came on Hornqvist's one-timer on a power play for a 2-1 lead at 3:51.
"They were definitely better than us in the first two periods," Hjalmarsson said. "I think they kind of were giving it to us a little bit, but we survived those two periods and we're still in the game. The third period was better, but we have to bring it over three periods in this league. It's tough to win unless you do."
Hall tied it at 2-2 on a difficult-angle shot that surprised Jarry at 9:51 of the second.

"We had some good looks [in overtime]; there's a lot of things there that you wish for, but at the end you've got to make a play," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said.

They said it

"It wasn't pretty, but we played hard. We played hard every shift. It's an amazing team, again. I like it." -- Penguins center Evgeni Malkin
"I'm excited. We're still in the mix and I think we have a lot of talent in this group. If everybody plays to their abilities, we have a really big chance to get into the playoffs, and that's what we should expect out of ourselves." -- Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson

Need to know

Crosby practiced with full contact Saturday for the first time since his surgery Nov. 14. Pittsburgh is 18-6-4 without him. … Jarry is 8-1-1 in his past 10 games. … The Penguins started a stretch of six games in 10 days. … Pittsburgh forward Bryan Rust had an assist; he has at least one point in 12 of his past 14 games. … Tocchet is 0-4-2 against the Penguins as Coyotes coach. He won the Stanley Cup twice (2016, 2017) as an assistant with Pittsburgh. … Hall has 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 18 games against the Penguins.

What's next

Penguins: Host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)