Latendresse lifts Wild past Pens, Crosby
Guillaume Latendresse hasn't been with the Minnesota Wild long
enough for most of their fans to even memorize the spelling of his
name.
In a short time with his new team, though, Latendresse has
given the Wild all they could hope for.
Latendresse scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third
period after getting a career-high three assists, giving the Wild
enough to beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on
Monday.
"He gives us a lift when we need it,'' said teammate Cal
Clutterbuck. "He's really good down low at chewing up the block in
the offensive zone, and he's been huge for us.''
For a bigger forward, though, Latendresse has shown
better-than-advertised skating ability. He back-checked well and
drew raves from coach Todd Richards for smart, tough plays along
the boards.
"His play is elevated, and you can see that he's real
confident,'' Richards said, adding: "If he gets a step on you,
you're beat. There's nothing you can do to stop him.''
An audible scattering of Sid the Kid supporters were in
attendance to cheer for the defending Stanley Cup champions among
the fifth-largest regular-season crowd in Wild history. But
Latendresse upstaged the NHL's brightest young star for a night at
least, even with Crosby getting an assist and two goals.
In the 2003 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft, before
they became pros, Crosby was the No. 1 pick and Latendresse went
No. 2.
"Now I'm 600,'' Latendresse joked.
Latendresse, who came from Montreal for Benoit Pouliot in a
trade of underperforming young players two months ago, sneaked in
behind Alex Goligoski during a 2-on-3 rush while Kyle Brodziak drew
his defender out. Latendresse, who has 10 goals and five assists in
20 games with Minnesota, was in position to punch in the winner.
He has given the Wild a finisher at the net to play with
newcomer Martin Havlat, who got just his eighth goal when
Latendresse set him up in the second period to tie the game at 2.
"It's great for me to have the chance to play on a team like
that,'' Latendresse said. "The chemistry's great. I like everything
here.''
For only the fifth time in 22 games this season, the Penguins
lost after scoring first, this time on Crosby's early goal. He
later tied the game at 3 in the first minute of the third period to
move past Marian Gaborik for second place in the NHL with 29 goals.
Former Wild forward Pascal Dupuis set up Crosby's first score
and added a goal of his own for Pittsburgh, which again struggled
on the power play and had another quiet game from struggling star
Evgeni Malkin.
The Penguins went 0 for 6 in extra-skater situations, and
Malkin was a minus-2 with three shots on goal and two giveaways. He
is scoreless in 12 of his last 13 games, with a three-goal game
against Ottawa on Dec. 23 standing out in the slump.
"We got in the offensive zone and forced them to take
penalties,'' coach Dan Bylsma said. "We came out in the third down
a goal and got a goal to get back into it. That's how you want to
play.''
"If we play another three games, plus another 33 games like
that, we'll be a good team.''
The Penguins killed off a five-minute power play after a
major interference penalty on Sergei Gonchar for clobbering
Clutterbuck, but they weren't able to break through down the
stretch.
Niklas Backstrom made 35 saves after making 34 in Minnesota's
2-1 win at Pittsburgh in October. The Penguins, playing the second
on a five-game road trip, have lost eight of their last 11 games.
"We just need to settle things down,'' Crosby said, assessing
the power play. "We made it pretty tough on ourselves.''
Backstrom squelched a 5-on-3 in the second period, whirling
backward to pounce on and freeze the puck that slid out of his
grasp on a slap shot by Gonchar.
Seconds after another power play failed that period,
Latendresse - who served a too-many-men penalty - joined the rush
and made a deft inside pivot on Goligoski to maneuver a shot around
him that Clutterbuck tipped past Fleury's glove for a 3-2 lead.
This is part of the challenge of being the defending champs.
"We're getting every team's best, every player's best,''
Goligoski said. "Tonight just comes with the territory.''
Notes: Over the last month, Latendresse leads the
NHL with eight even-strength goals. He has four goals and four
assists in the last four games. ... Goligoski, a native of the
northern Minnesota town of Grand Rapids, played in his home state
for the first time in his NHL career. ... Clutterbuck on Gonchar:
"He better hope he retires before the end of the year. Someone's
going to hurt him.''
