Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - David Perron posted two goals and an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins powered past the slumping Minnesota Wild 7-2 on Tuesday.
Paul Martin, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang each finished with a goal and an assist, Marcel Goc and Brandon Sutter also lit the lamp and Sidney Crosby tallied three assists for the Penguins, who improved to 8-2 this season against Western Conference opponents.
"I thought we got better as the game went along," Penguins head coach Mike Johnston said. "(Perron) has a quick release shot and is dangerous around the net."
Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves in the win.
Jonas Brodin and Justin Fontaine each scored for the Wild, who dropped their sixth straight game.
"For whatever reason, we just fall apart," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said. "The things just compound quickly."
Niklas Backstrom allowed six goals on 35 shots and John Curry gave up a goal on two shots in relief.
The Penguins started the scoring 6:16 into the game. Craig Adams fired a shot from the point which Backstrom stopped, along with Zach Sill's rebound attempt, but Goc was there to whack the puck into the net.
Perron increased Pittsburgh's lead to 2-0 with 7:56 remaining in the first period after he gathered a loose puck at the top of the crease and backhanded it past Backstrom.
Minnesota pulled within one as Brodin moved in from the point, took a cross- ice pass from Nate Prosser and wristed a shot into the top left corner of the net at 5:12 of the second.
Less than two minutes later, the hosts answered back just five seconds into a power play. Backstrom got just enough of Evgeni Malkin's redirection of Letang's point blast, but Kunitz was there to deposit the rebound for a 3-1 lead.
Sutter outraced defenseman Ryan Suter to a loose puck and wristed a shot over the blocker of Backstrom, making it a 4-1 game 5:03 into the final stanza.
Martin's backhander in tight deflected off Prosser's skate and into the net at 9:08 of the third and Letang slid a backhander past Backstrom off a breakaway less than two minutes later for a 6-1 lead.
Fontaine sent a quick wrister past the glove of Fleury with 6:03 to play, but Perron beat Curry with a quick snap shot less than three minutes later to account for the final score.
Game Notes
Fleury has now recorded at least one win against every team other than the Penguins in his career ... The Wild have not scored a power-play goal against the Penguins since Dec. 8, 2005 ... Pittsburgh has won four of its last five games against Minnesota ... The Penguins improved to 20-4-5 when scoring first this season ... Pittsburgh announced that defenseman Olli Maatta will undergo shoulder surgery on Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season ... Penguins forward Steve Downie left the game after he was elbowed in the head by Suter.
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