The Pittsburgh Penguins have been on a downward spiral as they had lost their previous six games heading into their Halloween night meeting with the Anaheim Ducks. Their skid finally came to an end as they took a 2-1 overtime win over the Ducks thanks to Sidney Crosby’s two-goal performance, and Alex Nedeljkovic’s 22-save performance. The team looked hungry as they went all out to do whatever they could to win, which saw a lot of positives come out of it.
Alex Nedeljkovic Finding His Form
Coming back from an injury is never an easy task, especially for goalies, and that showed through Nedeljkovic’s first three games back. Over those games, he allowed 12 goals for a 4.00 goals-against average (GAA) and a .874 save percentage (SV%). Those are not the stats you need from someone who could potentially be a solution to the goaltending problems. Last night, however, he turned the ship around and looked comfortable between the pipes.
Related: Penguins Milestones to Watch for in the 2024-25 Season
Despite only facing 23 shots throughout the game, Nedeljkovic seems to be finding his form. He made many key saves, especially with the game tied at one with 4:24 left in the third. Off a bad turnover, Trevor Zegras was all alone on Nedeljkovic. He fired a shot that Nedeljkovic was able to stop with his glove, but the puck rolled over his shoulder and into the crease. Marcus Pettersson came up big to keep it out, but pushed it to the center of the ice for Cutter Gauthier to pick up the loose puck. Seeing he was on his back, Gauthier saw an opening on the left side of the net, but Nedeljkovic stretched his arms out to take away what would have been a goal. His play last night was very fluid and not as skittish as it has been through the first three games.
Sidney Crosby Continues to Be Clutch
For the second time this season, Crosby came up clutch to not only bring the Penguins level in the game, but skate away with the overtime win and extra point in the standings. If anyone was going to be the hero for the Penguins, it was going to be Crosby. Early in the game, he was finding ways to get himself involved whether it was getting shots on net, or being a pest going to the front of the net. Uncharacteristically, Crosby took a poke at goaltender Lucas Dostal’s glove, which caused a bit of a scrum. He took a couple of cross-checks, but motivated him to get going. After that point, his play went to another level as he was a key piece in the win.
With two goals, Crosby now sits just five goals away from hitting 600 in his career. Along with this milestone, he sits a maximum of 70 more points away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for most point-per-game seasons in NHL history.
Power Play Still a Concern in the Win
The Penguins’ power play still looks to be a concern 12 games into the season. Entering the game, they were 12th in the league at 22.6%, but took a hit as they went 0/3 against Anaheim. They were doing everything right on the first chance they had. The puck movement was spectacular and they were taking shots, but ran into a hot goaltender.
The other two chances were the complete opposite. The puck movement was some of the worst for the game and they did not have that shooting mentality they had on their first chance. With the likes of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, and Rickard Rakell, the power play should be one of the top five in the league. It has everything from goalscorers and playmakers to guys who will get in the dirty areas for puck retrievals.
Up Next for the Penguins
The Penguins are back at it on Saturday, Nov. 2 for the last of their three-game homestand when they take on the Montreal Canadiens. They will look to build off this win before they go on the road for three games against three Metro Division rivals next week.
