Ducks can’t contain Sidney Crosby in 6-2 loss to Penguins

Sidney Crosby scored on two breakaways to extend his goal streak to a career-best seven games and had two assists to help the Pittsburgh Penguins roll past the Ducks, 6-2, on Monday night.

“His game is at another level right now,” Coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a big reason we continue to gain traction in the standings.”

The Penguins have won six of seven games during Crosby’s streak, a stunning turnaround for a player that had only 18 points in 28 games when Sullivan took over for Mike Johnston on Dec. 12. Crosby has 34 points in Sullivan’s 23 games as coach.

“It’s been good here lately,” Crosby said. “Everybody’s playing good. As a team we’re finding our game. Our starts have gotten a lot better.”

Chris Kunitz, Conor Sheary, Carl Hagelin and Olli Maatta also scored for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots.

Crosby, a two-time most valuable player, failed to be an All-Star while healthy for the first time in his career. He has 12 points — six goals and six assists — in four games since spending the All-Star break at home.

“It gives us confidence on the ice every time he’s got the puck,” Kunitz said. “It gives us a good feeling that we’re going to have something we can accomplish out there and get points.”

Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Maroon scored for the Ducks, who had won six in a row to move back into a playoff spot. John Gibson made 25 saves before being pulled early in the third period. Pittsburgh’s six goals were the most given up by the Ducks this season.

“We weren’t prepared to play with our feet,” Getzlaf said. “I didn’t think we got our legs going the way we wanted to when you have the puck. They’re a quick team. You stand still for a couple seconds before you move, they’re going to have it on their stick.”

Crosby’s 15 goals since Jan. 1 are the most in the league and his nine-game goal streak at home is the second-longest streak in franchise history behind a 16-game run by Hall of Famer and team owner Mario Lemieux in 1996.

The Ducks and their Western Conference-leading 115 goals against figured to be a stiff test. At the start of a season-long seven-game trip, however, the Ducks looked a step slow early and never found their footing against the rapidly improving Penguins.

Crosby fed Kris Letang at the point less than four minutes in and Kunitz deflected Letang’s flip by Gibson to give the Penguins the lead just 3:38 into the game. Sheary’s third goal of the season 10:06 into the period was the reward for a relentless shift by the fourth line. The Penguins kept the Ducks pinned deep, and Sheary expertly redirected Letang’s flip by Gibson.

The Ducks made a pair of minor surges, but the Penguins responded each time. Hagelin’s first goal with the Penguins since the Ducks sent him to Pittsburgh for David Perron last month came late in the first period, 33 seconds after Getzlaf had drawn the Ducks within 2-1.