ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Brent Johnson turned aside 24-of-26 shots and James Neal scored an unassisted goal Tuesday, boosting the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2 victory over Minnesota.
Johnson picked up his first victory of the season after two overtime losses for the shorthanded Penguins, who were playing without suspended defenseman Kris Letang.
Neal made it 3-1 for the Penguins less than 4 minutes into the final period when he picked the pocket of Wild defenseman Marco Scandella, skated in alone on netminder Nicklas Backstrom and beat him with a wrist shot -- his sixth goal of the year.
Pascal Dupuis sealed the win with shorthanded tally later in the frame for Pittsburgh, which rebounded from a Monday loss in Winnipeg.
Cal Clutterbuck and Guillaume Latendresse found the net for Minnesota, which fell to 2-2-2 to start the season.
Backstrom made 21 stops.
