Sidney Crosby sparks comeback win over Blues, upping Penguins' win streak to 9

Sidney Crosby didn’t speak with the media after Wednesday’s home game against the St. Louis Blues.

And he had a legitimate reason not to.

He was getting stitches.

A tussle with Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola, listed at a robust 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds, during the second period caused some damage to Crosby’s face that required repairs.

Crosby’s response to Miikola’s belligerence spoke volumes more than what he could have offered from behind a microphone anyway.

The Penguins’ captain scored the game-tying goal and helped create the winning score in an improbable 5-3 comeback victory at PPG Paints Arena against one of the NHL’s better teams. The victory extended a season-best winning streak to nine games.

“He was in beast mode tonight, I thought,” Sullivan said. “The goal he scores was vintage Crosby for me. He’s so good down low. He’s so good in the traffic. He’s so strong on the puck. When he’s playing the game that way, he’s the standard-bearer for the team. He raises the intensity level for our group. He establishes a certain expectation that flows through our bench.

“Everybody has a responsibility to play the game a certain way when your captain and your best player is leading by example the way he was tonight.”

Of course, it’s always helpful when the opponent issues an unsuccessful coaching challenge that changes the tide of the contest late in regulation.

Such was the case Wednesday when St. Louis’ Craig Berube had a challenge backfire on him. After Crosby scored the game-tying goal, the Blues claimed Crosby interfered with goaltender Jordan Binnington. Officials reviewed the sequence but saw no malfeasance on Crosby’s behalf. As a result, the Blues were issued a delay of game minor, as per the NHL’s rules for any unsuccessful coach’s challenge.

On the ensuing power-play chance, the Penguins took the lead for good.

Berube was blunt in his convictions.

“(Binnington) had the puck, Berube said. “(Crosby) comes through the crease, his foot is in the crease, knocked it out of (Binnington’s) hand and scored a goal. It’s goalie interference.”

The NHL disagreed. In a statement, the league said, “After video review, it was determined that the incidental contact between Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and St. Louis’ goaltender Jordan Binnington occurred in the white ice and, therefore, did not constitute goaltender interference.”

The decision was vital as it allowed the Penguins to extend their winning streak, despite some sluggish play throughout the game.

“We’re taking pride in finding ways to win games different ways, whether we get up early or we’re down early or we scratch and claw to fight back and score goals late,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “Our ability to win different ways has been coming out lately. That’s a sign of good things and hopefully, we can keep building on.”

The Penguins had to engineer this comeback on the foundation of a sloppy play in the second period.

After neither team scored in the opening frame, the Blues took the game’s first lead only 20 seconds into the second with a power-play score.

Intercepting a clearing attempt at the left point of the offensive zone, Blues defenseman Torey Krug settled the puck and fed a pass above the right circle for forward Brayden Schenn. Schenn moved into the circle and wired a wrister that toasted goaltender Casey DeSmith’s glove on the near side for his fifth goal of the year. Krug had the lone assist.

The Blues took a 2-0 lead at 8:45 of the second period when forward Jordan Kryou scored his 13th goal. Pushing play up the left wing into the offensive zone, Vladimir Tarasenko centered a pass to the slot for Kyrou, who fired a past kneeling defenseman Kris Letang and under DeSmith’s glove. Tarasenko and defenseman Justin Faulk collected assists.

Things boiled over at 12:20 of the second period. In St. Louis’ slot, Crosby tried to claim position but received a cross-check from Miikola. Crosby responded in kind and all 10 skaters on the ice gathered in a scrum. After officials separated the factions, Crosby and Miikola were assessed slashing minors. With blood dripping from his nose, Crosby headed to the dressing room for stitch work.

“Just from that moment right there, the energy on our bench got the whole team engaged there,” Penguins forward Brock McGinn said. “He just leads by example. He did it right at the perfect time there.”

After Krug took a cross checking minor at 12:48 of the second, the Penguins got on the scoreboard with a four-on-three power-play goal at the 13:30 mark.

From the left circle of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues fed a simple pass to the front of the crease for Rust. With few options, Rust flicked a backhander on net. Binnington made the save initially but allowed the rebound to flutter above him and behind his right shoulder. Rust maintained concentration on the puck and jabbed it into the cage for his sixth goal. Rodrigues and Letang registered assists.

The momentum from that goal lasted all of 19 seconds as Blues defenseman Jordan Parayko scored his fourth goal off the ensuing faceoff during a four-on-four sequence.

Spinning off a check from Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen above the left circle of the Penguins’ zone, Schenn fed a backhand pass to the high slot for Parayko, who fired a wrister through a phalanx of bodies and past DeSmith’s charred glove hand. Assists went to Schenn and defenseman Scott Perunovich.

That score prompted Sullivan to replace DeSmith with Tristan Jarry, freshly removed from the NHL’s protocols for covid-19. DeSmith finished the contest with 13 saves on 16 shots.

“I didn’t think (DeSmith) was tracking it as well as he has been,” Sullivan said. “I just felt it was the right thing to do at the time. It was a coach’s instinct on my part. That’s why we decided to make the change.

“It doesn’t diminish how we feel about (DeSmith). He’s played some really good minutes for us. He’s a quality goaltender. This is just part of the game, and sometimes coaches are going to make those decisions depending on circumstances in the game. It was just kind of a gut instinct.”

The Penguins pulled back within one at 15:46 of the second when Rust scored again. Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Crosby slipped a pass to the right circle for Rust, who lifted a wrister over Binnington’s glove for his fifth goal in two games. Crosby and Guentzel tallied assists.

Things were tied at 12:23 of the third period. After a defensive zone turnover by Miikola, Guentzel fired a wrister from the right point towards the cage. Binnington reached out to glove the shot, but Crosby made contact with him above the blue paint, dislodging the puck. Crosby corralled the rebound and fired a forehand shot for his fifth goal. Guentzel and defenseman John Marino had assists.

After the Blues issued their ill-fated challenge, the Penguins had another power-play chance and wasted little time in taking advantage of it.

To be clear, they wasted all of 12 seconds. After beating Blues forward Ryan O’Reilly, one of the better defensive forwards in the NHL, on the ensuing faceoff at center ice, Crosby drove the puck into the offensive zone and established possession in the left corner.

Eventually, the puck was worked around the end boards and claimed by Rust on the left half wall. Rust fed a pass to center point for Letang, who then distributed a pass to the right circle for Rodrigues. From there, Rodrigues chopped a one-timer beating Binnington’s blocker on the near side.

While certainly not remorseful about claiming a lead in that scenario, Sullivan expressed some sympathy for Berube’s ill-fated challenge.

“Goalie interference is a real difficult challenge for any coaching staff because there’s a lot of gray area,” Sullivan said. “So, it’s a difficult call for coaching staffs, especially when you take into consideration the time on the clock, the score of the game. It could potentially be a two-goal swing, which was the case tonight. That’s the repercussions of it.

“It’s a really tough call because of the gray area. I wish the consequence for being wrong in that circumstance wasn’t so drastic. But it is and those are the rules and we all have to live by them. But it certainly makes the coaching staffs’ decision difficult.”

An insurance goal by McGinn at 18:21 secured victory. Stealing an errant clearing attempt by Parayko in the Blues’ right circle, Penguins forward Teddy Blueger fed a simple pass to the left circle for McGinn, who shuffled in a forehand shot past a beleaguered Binnington’s right skate for his ninth goal. The only assist went to Blueger.

Stopping all 13 shots he faced, Jarry elevated his record to 16-5-4.

Jarry and his teammates were elevated by a bloodied but hardly beaten Crosby.

“He led by example,” Jarry said. “He brings another level to his game when I think the team needs to step up. That’s why he’s the best in the world at what he does.”