Penguins tame Predators but remain on outside of wild-card playoff position
With everything at stake — or at least the ambitions of playing a minimum of four postseason games on the line — the Pittsburgh Penguins turned to the goaltender they signed this past offseason with hopes he would rejuvenate his sagging career and be a true difference-maker.
Alex Nedeljkovic.
As displaced franchise goaltender Tristan Jarry — in the first year of a five-year contract he signed in July — sat on the bench, Nedeljkovic made his 12th consecutive start and made 28 saves on 30 shots to navigate the Penguins to a vital 4-2 victory in their regular-season home finale against the Nashville Predators at PPG Paints Arena.
“It’s a good feeling,” Nedeljkovic said. “It’s a good feeling knowing the coaching staff has confidence in you to come back and keep riding through this thing. I was glad I was able to have a good night for them and prove them right. We’ve just got to keep doing our thing and keep moving forward.”
The Penguins’ forward momentum may come to an immediate halt as soon as Tuesday, however.
Should either the Washington Capitals or Detroit Red Wings get a win Tuesday, the Penguins will be officially eliminated from playoff contention before their regular season finale, a road contest against the New York Islanders.
“It’s been like this for a while where we’ve had to go into every game and grab points and move on,” Penguins forward Crosby said. “Obviously, we need some help, but given the position we were in a few weeks ago, I think we would have taken this opportunity. Hopefully, we get some help. All we can do is control being ready to play and finding a way to win another one.”
With the victory, the Penguins (32-31-12, 88 points) moved up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings.
The Capitals (39-31-11, 89 points) maintained their hold on second place (i.e. the final wild-card seed) after a 2-0 home win against the Boston Bruins on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Red Wings (40-32-9, 89 points) stayed in third place after a 5-4 comeback home victory in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens.
The idle Philadelphia Flyers (38-32-11, 87 points) slipped to fifth place but remain alive.
On Tuesday, the Capitals have a road contest against the Flyers while the Red Wings visit the Canadiens. A win by either the Capitals or Red Wings will induce an early offseason for the Penguins.
“You’ve just to keep moving forward. We’ll see what happens (Tuesday) then we’ll see what happens the day after that,” forward Bryan Rust said.
Regarding the Metropolitan Division race, the Islanders (38-27-16, 92 points) secured third place with a 4-1 road win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
Before the out-of-town scores began to filter in, Penguins forward Michael Bunting appeared to open the scoring 6:23 into regulation with a net-front power-play score, but the Predators issued a coach’s challenge claiming goaltender interference. Following a lengthy review, officials confirmed those suspicions and nullified the goal.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) April 16, 2024
Only 39 seconds later, on the same power-play sequence, Crosby scored a legal goal on a rebound scramble.
Taking a pass low along the Predators’ end boards, Crosby held, held and held the puck before sliding it to the lower left circle for Bunting, who whipped an immediate one-timer on net. Goaltender Juuse Saros made a save but allowed a rebound to slide loose behind him in the crease. Lunging around the right side of the cage, Crosby dove to swat the puck in for his team-best 42nd goal of the season. Bunting and Rust had assists.
Power play goal for Pittsburgh!
Scored by Sidney Crosby with 12:58 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Michael Bunting and Bryan Rust.
Pittsburgh: 1
Nashville: 0#NSHvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Preds pic.twitter.com/7T8pg6Crt6— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 15, 2024
Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson found his 11th goal at 6:10 of the first period.
Settling a loose puck on the right half wall of the offensive zone, Crosby distributed it to the right point where Karlsson wound up and chopped a one-timer that glanced off the left ribs of Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro and deflected by Saros’ glove on the near side. Penguins forward Drew O’Connor provided a screen on the sequence. Crosby and defenseman Marcus Pettersson claimed assists.
Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Erik Karlsson with 06:10 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Sidney Crosby and Marcus Pettersson.
Pittsburgh: 2
Nashville: 0#NSHvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Preds pic.twitter.com/XB88ahMck2— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 15, 2024
It appeared Penguins defenseman Kris Letang found the back of the net at 16:20 of the opening frame, but another coach’s challenge by the visitors claiming goaltender interference was successful and euthanized that score.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) April 16, 2024
According to a pair of statements issued by the NHL, it was ruled that Penguins players’ skates made contact with Saros’ stick within the crease during both would-be goals. The first instance was by Bunting and the second by forward Lars Eller.
The NHL's explanations on the Penguins' goals overturned by coach's challenges in the first period: pic.twitter.com/5q7tptsPVm
— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) April 16, 2024
“I thought the first one was a good call,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think the second one is anybody’s guess. We can sit here all day long and debate it. That’s the difficulty with the challenges. My understanding of it is if the player is in the blue paint and is not impeding the goalie’s ability to make the save, then it’s not (interference). … I know the blue paint is a major factor, but yet we’ve had people in the blue paint that haven’t got it.
“It is what it is.”
Predators forward Gustav Nyquist’s 23rd goal is what got his team on the scoreboard 7:24 into the second period.
From deep on the right wing wall of the offensive zone, Predators forward Filip Forsberg forced a seam pass through the slot that Rust deflected partially to the lower left circle where Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh one-touched it to the slot. From there, Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly whacked a one-timer that was blocked by Pettersson. The rebound bumbled into the chest of Nyquist, stationed slightly to the left of the crease. As Nedeljkovic stumbled in reaction to the carom, Nyquist was able to jab a forehand shot through the goaltender’s five hole. Assists went to O’Reilly and McDonagh.
Nashville goal!
Scored by Gustav Nyquist with 12:36 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Ryan O'Reilly and Ryan McDonagh.
Pittsburgh: 2
Nashville: 1#NSHvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Preds pic.twitter.com/Q7yg3wd0rS— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 16, 2024
Penguins forward Reilly Smith responded 57 seconds later with his 13th goal.
Corralling a rebound on the Predators’ end boards, Smith initiated a give-and-go sequence with Eller out of the right corner. As Smith dished the puck to Eller in the right circle, he sprinted off the boards toward the slot. That allowed Eller to feed the puck back to Smith who sizzled a wrister from above the right hashmark by Saros’ blocker. Eller and Letang logged assists.
Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Reilly Smith with 11:39 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Lars Eller and Kris Letang.
Pittsburgh: 3
Nashville: 1#NSHvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Preds pic.twitter.com/rHYfM8Rvco— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 16, 2024
The Predators persisted and made it a one-score contest at 17:36 of the second with Forsberg’s 48th goal.
Stealing a pass by Smith in the Predators’ zone, McDonagh initiated transition and banked the puck off the boards near the home penalty box, allowing Forsberg to gain entry into the Penguins’ zone on the right wing. Facing minimal resistance, Forsberg snapped a wrister that struck off Pettersson’s stick blade and fluttered by Nedeljkovic’s glove on the near side. The only assist went to McDonagh.
Nashville goal!
Scored by Filip Forsberg with 02:24 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Ryan McDonagh.
Pittsburgh: 3
Nashville: 2#NSHvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Preds pic.twitter.com/2iOz0qHKJk— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 16, 2024
Penguins forward Emil Bemstrom scored his eighth goal of the season 2:42 into the third period.
Settling a puck at the left point of the offensive zone, Pettersson slid it to Karlsson at the opposite point. Surveying his options for a moment, Karlsson faked a slapper then slipped a clever pass to the left circle for Bemstrom, who boomed a one-timer on the near side by the blocker of a sprawling Saros for his third goal since joining the Penguins via trade on Feb. 22. Karlsson and Pettersson had assists.
Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Emil Bemstrom with 17:18 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Erik Karlsson and Marcus Pettersson.
Pittsburgh: 4
Nashville: 2#NSHvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Preds pic.twitter.com/fYEaVCJCaL— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 16, 2024
With the victory, Nedeljkovic boosted his record to 18-6-7 and 8-0-3 in the 12 starts he has made since March 24.
“He’s playing really good right now,” forward Evgeni Malkin said. “We try to help him and play right all game tonight. Score on power play, two goals did not count, but we dominate two periods. They played a good second period, but (Nedeljkovic has) played unbelievable. (Defensemen) unbelievable tonight. Focus next game.
“And a big day tomorrow.”
The Penguins are hoping Tuesday will offer ample fortune.
“We’re just focusing on ourselves,” Nedeljkovic said. “We’re going to need help, but we can’t control that. We can’t think about that. We’ve got to just worry about ourselves, take care of our business. Because none of it matters if we don’t come back with the same effort Wednesday night.”
Notes:
• Pettersson (123 points) surpassed forward Val Fonteyne (121) for 74th place on the franchise scoring list.
• Nedeljkovic (18 wins) surpassed Steve Guenette (17) for 26th place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.
• Rust recorded his 200th career assist.
• Penguins forward Jansen Harkins was activated from long-term injured reserve and returned to the lineup after missing 19 games due to a right hand injury.
• Penguins forwards Jesse Puljujarvi, Radim Zohorna and rookie defenseman John Ludvig were healthy scratches.
• Former Penguins forward Jason Zucker took a 10-minute misconduct for abuse of officials at 6:31 of the third period.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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