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PITTSBURGH -- If Pittsburgh Penguins rookie defenceman Olli Maatta was nervous, it certainly didnt show. Maatta sealed the Penguins season-high sixth straight victory when he scored on a third-period penalty shot Thursday night, and Pittsburgh beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2. "I was nervous, for sure, but I think thats the only move that Ive got and it worked," Maatta said. "I thought he got it at first and then I saw it go in so I was pretty excited." Chris Kunitz scored his 19th goal, Pascal Dupuis and Brandon Sutter each scored for the second consecutive game, and defenceman Matt Niskanen also tallied for Pittsburgh, which has won 11 of 12 overall and a season-high nine straight home games. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby added two assists, extending his season-best point streak to nine games. He leads the league with 51 points. Jason Pominville netted his team-high 16th goal and Dany Heatley scored 3:13 into the third period for the Wild, turning a three-goal deficit into a 4-2 game. "We were not ready to play the game hard enough and thats something that we have to look at ourselves in the mirror," said Wild head coach Mike Yeo, a former assistant at Pittsburgh. "To come out and get out-battled and outworked was disappointing." The Wild had an opportunity to make it a one-goal game shortly after with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:46, but the Penguins killed both penalties. Maatta was awarded a penalty shot after he was hauled down by Jonas Brodin on a breakaway while coming out of the penalty box. "Thats the game, depending on what happens there," Crosby said. "If they score on that power play its a different game and theyre one away from tying it." Instead, the 19-year-old Maatta, who made the team out of training camp, scored his third career goal on his first career penalty shot, part of a his first career three-point night. He is the second defenceman in team history to score on a penalty shot. "To step up on a penalty shot like that, and put it in was huge," Crosby said. "Its nice to see him capitalize. Hes been playing well for us all year." Maatta and Niskanen, his defence partner, have also shouldered the load while five of the teams top six defenceman missed a third straight game. The bigger role for the young rookie includes increased minutes -- he played almost a career-best 30 Wednesday night -- and matchups against the oppositions top line. "Thats a tall order, but the confidence and steadiness and consistency in which he played has been maybe the best in the last three or four games," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said of Maatta. The Penguins, playing for the fifth time in nine nights, were also without star forward Evgeni Malkin for the third straight game. Malkin, third in the league in scoring, injured his left leg last Saturday at Detroit. Penguins forward James Neal returned to the lineup following a five-game suspension for kneeing Bostons Brad Marchand in the head during a 3-2 loss to the Bruins. Neal was involved in a fight and had an assist. The Wild are in the midst of a stretch where they play seven of eight on the road. They played their first game without starting goalie Josh Harding, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Its a move that allows Harding time to make adjustments to medication for his multiple sclerosis. Harding, expected to return Dec. 27 at Winnipeg, led the league in goals-against average and ranked second in save percentage entering Thursday. It was a homecoming for Wild forward Matt Cooke, playing his first game in Pittsburgh where he spent five seasons before leaving this past summer by free agency. Cooke, an instrumental piece of the Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup run, has just 20 penalty minutes in 36 games this season, but he was a polarizing figure in Pittsburgh, serving multiple suspensions for several hits. He was recognized in the first period with a scoreboard video tribute. Dupuis opened the scoring 49 seconds into the game, slamming home a rebound from the top of the crease. Niklas Backstrom had trouble handling the initial shot, giving up a rebound -- tipped in the air by Crosby -- that fell into the paint, allowing Dupuis to give the Penguins the early lead. The Penguins struck less than two minutes into the second period as Sutter scored his eighth of the season, a turning shot from the left faceoff dot. Niskanen, who also logged nearly 30 minutes of ice time Wednesday at New York, netted a power-play goal less than two minutes later with a slap shot from the point that got past a screened Backstrom. Kunitz gave the Penguins a 4-0 lead seconds after a fight between Neal and Wild defenceman Keith Ballard, the third fight in two periods. Crosby set up the goal with a no-look backhand pass from the corner to Kunitz, who buried a one-timer past Backstrom. Pominville got the Wild on the board 37 seconds later, re-directing Nino Niederreiters shot behind Jeff Zatkoff, who won his sixth straight game. NOTES: The Penguins are 21-2 when scoring the first goal. .... Penguins forward Jayson Megna will miss the next six weeks with a lower body injury. . Justin Fontaine, former Penguin Mike Rupp and Nate Prosser were healthy scratches for Minnesota, while Brian Gibbons sat out for Pittsburgh. The Penguins host Calgary Saturday, while Minnesota visits the New York Rangers on Sunday. Authentic Keyshawn Johnson Jersey . The game was the first of two international friendlies that Canada is playing during the international break, with the second game against Slovenia set for Tuesday in Celje. Canada looked uncomfortable defensively throughout the game, and every free kick that came into Canadas penalty box looked like ending up in the back of the net. Authentic Morris Claiborne Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. http://www.cheapnewyorkjetsjerseysauthen...harrison-jersey. -- The Detroit Lions made it crystal clear to Golden Tate that he was their top target in free agency. Authentic Wesley Walker Jersey . Alen, 28, hit .315 with five home runs, 59 RBI and a career-high nine stolen bases for the Goldeyes last season. He is the longest serving catcher in Goldeyes history, having already spent five seasons with the organization. Authentic Dennis Byrd Jersey . Hollis-Jefferson went 5-for-6 from the field and added six rebounds, while Stanley Jefferson contributed 14 points for the Wildcats, who used their trademark tough defense to dominate the games final 24 minutes and advance to Tuesdays winners bracket matchup with Kansas State.Leading up to SportsCentres Year In Review on Christmas Eve, TSN and TSN.ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at LeBron James and the Miami Heat winning their second straight NBA championship. The Decision seems so long ago now. Its now been over three years since LeBron James sat down with Jim Gray to let the world know that he was taking his talents to South Beach, turning his back on his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and signing with the Miami Heat to form - along with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade - the NBAs most hated triumvirate. Something strange, but compelling, has happened since then and it culminated in the Heats second-straight NBA Championship this past June. It took three years, but LeBron James finally found redemption. Few shed tears when the Heat fell to the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the 2011 NBA Finals. The sense of schadenfreude was palpable as Mark Cubans charges pulled the upset and left the Heat wondering what went wrong. When the team re-emerged in 2012 as Eastern Conference Champions and mowed down the Oklahoma City Thunder to claim the Heats second-ever NBA Title, there was a sense of inevitability. They were built to be the best and they were and there was nothing anyone could say otherwise. But something changed in 2013 and its hard to put a finger on it. The NBAs reigning championns, the leagues biggest heels in recent memory, underwent a transformation that few saw coming.dddddddddddd Maybe it was the second act of Chris “Birdman” Andersen, the man once banned from the league on drug offences who signed in January and emerged as a catalyst for the club just before their 27-game winning-streak that took them into late March. Maybe it was watching Ray Allen, chartered member of the Boston Celtics “Big Three” shift into a supporting role with the Heat, coming off of the bench to provide key minutes. Maybe it was watching the team battle to a seven-game Eastern Conference finals victory over the upstart Indiana Pacers, the team that will most likely challenge their Eastern Conference crown come this June. If it was none of those, it was certainly Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Down 13 points in the fourth to the San Antonio Spurs and seemingly doomed to their second defeat in the NBA Finals in three seasons, James decided to take control of the narrative on his own, dropping 18 points in the final frame to help send the game into overtime, where the Heat came back for a 103-100 win to even the series for a third time. The Heats Game 7 triumph seemed like an inevitability after that, the aging Spurs deflated and resigned to defeat. In looking human, the Heat found humility. In humility, they found victory. ' ' '