materialized on his stick with nary a soul around

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin stood in the right circle just watching the play unfold in front of him when the puck suddenly materialized on his stick with nary a soul around. The empty net never had a chance. The Pittsburgh Penguins centre wristed his second goal of the season 7:20 into the third period to put the Penguins in front for good in a 3-2 win over Edmonton on Tuesday night. "Tough angle, great shot by Geno," Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby said. "Hes been getting chances, its always nice to see them go in." Something that seems to be happening a lot for the Penguins, who remained unbeaten and largely unchallenged at home. Crosby assisted on all three Pittsburgh goals to vault him into the NHL scoring lead, two of the assists going to linemates Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 shots to improve to 5-0, including a handful of spectacular saves to fend off the Oilers, who twice rallied to tie the game. "Hes making all the right saves at the right time," Kunitz said. Ales Hemsky and Jordan Eberle scored for Edmonton. Jason Labarbera made 25 saves but was nowhere to be found on the game-winner. The Penguins were on the power play when Crosby fed defenceman Paul Martin at the point. Martin wound up for a one-timer but instead dribbled a knuckler that slowly rolled right to Malkin. Labarbera wasnt sure what was happening until Malkin was in the corner celebrating. "I didnt know what happened," Labarbera said. "I look over and the puck is on his stick and I was kind of in no mans land." The Oilers fell to 1-5-1 to quell some early optimism the franchise is heading in the right direction behind former No. 1 picks Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov. "Weve got to find ways to win games, thats the bottom line," Labarbera said. "Every one of us needs to step it up a bit more and find a way to win." The Penguins havent trailed at home yet this season and wasted little time jumping on the well-travelled Oilers, who were playing their third game in four nights. Crosby, coming off a hat trick in a victory in Tampa on Saturday, collected the puck behind the Edmonton net and flipped a pass that deflected off Kunitzs stick and went right to Dupuis, who slipped a shot between Labarberas legs to make it 1-0 just 3:08 into the first period. Pittsburgh dominated the first 20 minutes but the Oilers collected themselves early in the second. A 5-on-3 power play failed to produce a goal but the momentum from the end of the penalty allowed Edmonton to tie it. Jeff Petry threw in a shot from the point and David Perron jumped on the rebound but his shot into a wide-open net went off the post and behind Fleury. Hemsky raced in and poked it across the goal line for his second goal of the season. Kunitz made it 2-1 Pittsburgh just past the games midway point, though he left the hard work up to Dupuis and Crosby. Racing in three-on-two, Dupuis wrist shot at the net was deflected by Crosby. The puck glanced off Labarberas glove and slid toward the net. Crosby raced behind the net and was about to tap it in only to have Kunitz beat his good friend to the punch by a split second. "It happened pretty quick, Im going to check my stick to see if theres a mark or a little chip on it," Crosby said with a laugh. Still, the Oilers kept coming. Fleury, arguably Pittsburghs best player during the teams quick start, ended up sprawled in front of the net during a scrum and was unable to secure the puck. It trickled out to Eberle, who lifted a backhand over a sea of players with 4:01 remaining in the second. It wasnt enough, however, for Edmonton to end a miserable opening two weeks or put a dent in Pittsburghs perfect record at Consol Energy Center. NOTES: Yakupov, the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft, returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the previous two games and played more than 17 minutes. ... Penguins F Beau Bennett was scratched due to a lower body injury and is "day to day" according to coach Dan Byslma. ... The Oilers continue their six-game road trip on Thursday against the New York Islanders. ... Pittsburgh plays in Philadelphia on Thursday. Vans Shoes Sale .ca has you covered for whos in, whos out and what to expect from all 30 teams. Cheap Vans Shoes China . Coach Jorge Sampaoli resisted naming any major surprises in the list published Tuesday at the site of Chiles football association. Chile is pinning its hopes on the recovery of Vidal. http://www.cheapvansdiscount.com/. Rodgers was ruled out on Friday by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Matt Flynn will make his second consecutive start for the Packers. Cheap Vans Shoes For Sale .Carla Fontes hadnt cut her hair since intermediate school, but her coach at Waiakea High School, Stan Haraguchi, thought the locks flowing below her waist were interfering with the sport. Wholesale Vans Authentic Shoes . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer.MONTREAL -- Rachel Homans Canada team is one win away from going through the Scotties Tournament of Heart final with a perfect record. The defending champions from Ottawa scored an early three and hung on through some difficult ends before scoring one in the 10th for a 5-4 victory over Chelsea Careys Manitoba rink in the first-versus-second game on Friday night. "Pretty crazy," said Homan, whose team has won 12 straight matches. "Some really amazing shots by every one of my teammates and a few wed like back. "The ice caught us a couple of times, but we battled and stayed in it to the end." The Ottawa-based Homan squad, looking to defend the title won last year in Kingston, Ont., will play in the final on Sunday night at the Maurice Richard Arena. Carey will play in the semifinal against the winner of the third-versus-fourth game Saturday between Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton and Albertas Val Sweeting. "We lost, but we played really well, so you come out and try to put the same game together and hope it goes better," said Carey. "Well try to win the semifinal and get back at them." Homan started with a bang, scoring three in the second end with a daring double takeout after Careys first stone drifted left and nicked a guard. "We like making big shots," said Homan. "They played amazing, but because we got up that three we could make mistakes and still win in the end." She threw another double in the fourth to force Carey to draw for one. But Carey responded with a clever takeout that led to a steal of one in the fifth. Then a perfect draw into a crowded house produced another steal to tie it at 3-3 in the sixth when Homans bid for a triple takeout couldnt dislodge the shot stone. Homan finally drew for one in the seventh and handed the hammer back to Carey, which she used to take one in the eighth. "Their team didnt miss," said Homan. "We were an inch (off) here and an inch there and they kept capitalizing on our mistakes. "We had to keep hanging in tough. We knew we had a lead and had control of the game and we had to keep that and make sure the mommentum didnt shift in her favour.dddddddddddd" After blanking the ninth, Homan watched Carey crash on a guard on her final stone to hand her the victory. Carey was trying to get a stone behind the guard, but said it "didnt really matter, the game was over regardless." Lead Lisa Weagle led Canada by shooting 96 per cent and was especially tough in the final two ends. The Canada team opened the Scotties with an 8-3 win over Manitoba and ended the round robin on Friday morning with an 11-0 record after a 7-3 win over New Brunswicks Andrea Crawford. Homans side outscored its opponents 94-43 in round robin play and went to a 10th end only once against Saskatchewan. After 12 matches, she has still not had to throw a last rock in a 10th end. The win gave her squad a day off to rest up for the final. Homan said they needed it after playing four times in two days. She said they would practice, relax and spend some time with family. A boisterous cheering section from Ottawa was among the crowd of 2,309. Carey was 9-2 after beating P.E.I.s Kim Dolan 6-4. Homans rink, which defeated Canadian Olympic team skip Jennifer Jones in last years final, is looking to become the first to go through the Scotties undefeated since Linda Moore in 1985. Lawton ended the round robin on a downer -- watching her last rock hit and roll just out of the rings to give Yukons Sarah Koltun a steal for a 6-5 win. "We didnt quite finish it off," said Lawton. "Just a bad shot by myself, otherwise we would have won. "In the end it doesnt make a difference for us. It would have been nice to finish that game off, but well rest up and get ready for the playoffs." Koltun was a crowd favourite all week and the 2,061 spectators gave her a long ovation after her upset win. The 20-year-old from Whitehorse is the first player ever to skip at the Canadian junior championships and the Scotties in the same year. "Its been really cool," said Koltun. "Its so much bigger. "You feel like superstars here, where at juniors youre just another team. The crowd loved us and we loved them. Its been incredible." ' ' '