Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic leads Penguins past Islanders

One of Kyle Dubas’ pursuits when he took over as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ president of hockey operations midway through 2023 in June was to boost the depth and competition at the organization’s goaltending position.

In addition to retaining incumbent starter Tristan Jarry, he signed Alex Nedeljkovic, hoping the 27-year-old would challenge Jarry for playing time and create a balance that would benefit each goaltender.

At the end of 2023, Dubas’ resolution has held true entering 2024.

Nedeljkovic made 37 saves — ranging from routine to spectacular — on 38 shots and directed the Penguins to a 3-1 victory against the New York Islanders on Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena.

The result improved Nedeljkovic’s record to 6-2-2 and came on the heels of an efficient 25-save performance by Jarry on Saturday in a 4-2 home victory against the St. Louis Blues.

“The two of us, we’ve both been playing well and we’re both pushing each other,” Jarry said Saturday. “That’s how you stay at your best.”

For Nedeljkovic, suiting up for the Penguins allowed him to finish the calendar year strong after washing out as a member of the Detroit Red Wings following the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.

“Ever since the summertime, everything’s been very positive, very constructive,” Nedeljkovic said. “We hit the ground running and once training came, we really haven’t looked back. It’s been great.”

The Penguins weren’t particularly great defensively in the early stages of this contest as Nedeljkovic was forced to deny Islanders forward Casey Cizikas on a breakaway only 1 minute, 54 seconds into regulation. Instead of freezing the puck, Nedeljkovic offloaded it to Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves and a few moments later, Penguins forward Lars Eller opened the scoring at 2:18 of the first period.

Pushing play into the offensive zone on the left wing, Penguins forward Jansen Harkins went deep along the boards and deftly slipped a pass across the front of the crease allowing Eller to sweep in a forehand shot over goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s left skate for his fifth goal of the season. Harkins and rookie forward Valtteri Puustinen had assists. For Harkins, it was his second assist in as many games after being held without a point in his first 18 contests of the season.

The Islanders had a marvelous chance — chances, really — to tie the game during a power-play sequence after Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was called for slashing at 11:31 of the opening frame. During a furious goalmouth scramble, the Islanders managed to fire four shots on five attempts between the 12:39 and 12:49 marks but could not get one behind Nedeljkovic. The sequence was punctuated by a desperate — some might suggest fortunate — glove save that denied Islanders forward/Penguins nemesis Brock Nelson from the right circle, all while Nedeljkovic’s helmet tumbled off his head.

“I saw the first one there and I just tried to get my stick on the ice, trying to take away the bottom of the net and got lucky with that one,” Nedeljkovic said. “And then followed it up top. I think we did a good job of trying to force them to make that extra pass. I just threw my glove up and we did a good job taking up the net there, too. It just hit me and we found a way to clear the puck.

“So, just a scramble and a couple lucky plays on my part.”

A bit of luck led to another goal from the Penguins’ bottom-six forwards to put the home team up by two 2:20 into the second period.

Driving the puck into the offensive zone on the right wing, Penguins forward Drew O’Connor pulled up in the near corner, spun off a check from Islanders rookie defenseman Samuel Bolduc and snapped a forehand shot toward the cage. Penguins forward Noel Acciari established position to the right of the crease against Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield and re-directed the puck between his own legs, off of Mayfield’s right skate and through Sorokin’s five hole. Acciari was credited with his third goal with O’Connor claiming the lone assist.

“(O’Connor had) a good breakout, skated it down strong on it, cut back and just put (the puck) to the net,” Acciari said. “I just happened to stop in front and stay there and get a stick on it.”

“However it gets in.”

The Islanders finally found a way in at 13:51 of the third period via Bolduc’s first goal of the season.

Going deep on the right wing of the offensive zone, Barzal flicked a wrister which struck off of Penguins forward Jeff Carter’s left skate and deflected on net. After Nedeljkovic kicked the puck out, to the top of the blue paint, Penguins forward Vinnie Hinostroza tried to clear it but ended up chopping it off of the right skate of Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel. That caused the puck to pinball to the left circle where Bolduc cleaned it up with a forehand shot, beating Nedeljkovic’s blocker on the near side. There were no assists.

Eller secured victory at 19:17 of the final frame with an empty net score. There were no assists.

The offense by Eller and Acciari marked the third consecutive game in which someone stationed among the bottom-six forwards has contributed to the scoresheet for the Penguins.

“It’s always a good night when the big guys don’t have to score and you can still win,” Acciari said. “As a bottom-six group, we want to play, we want to chip in when we can. It’s good that we could do this.”

This was the second time within the span of a week that the Penguins defeated the Islanders. On Wednesday, Jarry made 22 saves in a 7-0 road win.

Including these triumphs against the Islanders, the Penguins are 7-1-1 in their past nine games and look far better than the club which was 3-6-3 in the 12 games preceding this stretch.

“It just feels like the whole team is getting a little more traction,” Eller said. “Our best players (have) been our best players all year. But we need everybody to chip in. Tonight, (the bottom-six forwards) chipped in with a couple of goals. And (Nedeljkovic) was huge in net. That’s what we need, we need everybody to give something.”

This duo Penguins management has put together in net has certainly been something this season.

“It’s huge, it’s huge,” Eller said. “They are our best players most nights when we’re getting wins. We’re going to need them to keep being good. It just gives us a lot of comfort knowing we have them back there.”

Notes:

• Off the opening faceoff, Penguins rookie defenseman John Ludvig fought veteran Islanders forward Matt Martin. Both players received fighting majors only seven seconds into regulation.

Martin is one of the NHL’s last true heavyweight enforcers and Ludvig initiated relations:

“Yeah, he’s obviously a tough guy,” Ludvig said. “He’s been around for a while. He got the better of me tonight. But, I’m sure I’ll see him again. It was fun.”

• There was a brief scare in the second period when Crosby left the game at the 6:03 mark after taking a stick to the face on a follow-through from Barzal. Crosby retreated to the team’s medical facilities for repairs and returned to the ice at the 13:46 mark with an abrasion under his left eye.

• The Penguins’ power play was 0 for 5, including a five-on-three sequence that lasted 53 seconds, starting in the first period and spilling over into the second period.

• Hinostroza returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous five games. He was deployed on the fourth line for the majority of the game.

• The Penguins’ scratches were defenseman P.O Joseph (illness), Ryan Shea (healthy) and forward Radim Zohorna (healthy).