ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -Sidney Crosby’s shootout goal will always be frozen in time.
The Penguins captain somehow saw space between Ryan Miller’s pads as he shifted through driving snow and gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the outdoor Winter Classic in front of an NHL-record 71,217 fans on Tuesday.
In elements way more suited for football than hockey, Crosby won the NHL’s second outdoor game – and first in the United States – in the most dramatic of fashion at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
Colby Armstrong gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead just 21 seconds after the opening faceoff, and Brian Campbell tied it 1:25 into the second.
Blowing winds and dropping temperatures worked against everyone inside the vast stadium that easily housed the hockey rink between the 16-yard lines. By the time the shootout became necessary, no one seemed to mind the typical January weather in western New York.
Capitals 6, Senators 3
WASHINGTON (AP) – Mike Green had two goals and an assist and Washington beat Ottawa for the third time in three tries this season.
Michael Nylander, Brooks Laich and Boyd Gordon each added a goal and an assist for Washington, which beat Ottawa for the second time in four days. The Capitals topped the Senators 8-6 on Saturday.
Washington got 15 of its 26 shots in the first period and created numerous scoring chances.
Viktor Kozlov scored the other first-period goal. Gordon sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the third period.
Chris Neil and Dean McAmmond both had a goal and an assist for Ottawa, 0-3 against the Capitals this season. In the three losses, Ottawa has given up 18 goals.
Maple Leafs 4, Lightning 3
TORONTO (AP) – Scott Clemmensen stopped Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis in the shootout to help Toronto win its first shootout of the season.
Mats Sundin, Jason Blake, and Hal Gill had goals in regulation for Toronto, and Tomas Kaberle and Sundin scored in the shootout for the Maple Leafs.
Andreas Karlsson, Martin St. Louis and Paul Ranger scored for Tampa Bay, which has lost eight of its past nine and remains the NHL’s worst road team.
Clemmensen had 30 saves in his first start of the season.
Kings 9, Blackhawks 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Ladislav Nagy had his third career hat trick and added two assists for his second career five-point game, and Los Angeles scored a season-high five power-play goals in a rout of Chicago.
Alexander Frolov had two goals and three assists for the Kings, who scored no more than three times in any of their previous 10 contests. Patrick O’Sullivan, Dustin Brown, Tom Preissing and Lubomir Visnovsky also scored to help the Kings complete a home-and-home sweep of the Blackhawks.
The victory was the Kings’ third straight following an eight-game losing streak – but they still have the NHL’s worst record at 15-24-2.
Martin Lapointe and Patrick Sharp scored for the Blackhawks, who had won four in a row before these back-to-back losses against the Kings.
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