Suddenly, improbably, here come the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And here comes their captain.
The Penguins, who looked out of it less than a month ago, are even winning games when they don’t play well, as a Bryan Rust goal gave them a wild, 5-4 overtime victory in Nashville on Thursday night.
Rust’s captain, Sidney Crosby, ended his goal-scoring drought at 10 games while erupting for a 4-point outing. Rust also had 4 points and Rickard Rakell added a goal and an assist, giving the Penguins’ top line yet another big evening.
The Penguins are 8-2-1 in their past 11 games and in the wild-card race in the thoroughly mediocre Eastern Conference.
Trailing much of the evening, the Penguins erased a 3-1 deficit in the second period with goals from Crosby and Rakell.
After falling behind in the third period, an Erik Karlsson snipe evened the game.
SAY HI TO EK65 💪 pic.twitter.com/j2EjQTLu05
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 20, 2024
Rust won the game in overtime after the Penguins came close to allowing a breakaway on numerous occasions. The puck never bounced the Predators’ way, however, and ultimately found its way to the blade of Rust, one of the NHL’s hottest players.
IN RUST WE TRUST! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/x10IZNWqas
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 20, 2024
The Penguins very much got away from the disciplined style that has served them well during their recent hot streak. They won the game, however, because of their captain and his linemates. Crosby’s goal-scoring struggles have become an issue in recent days as he has struggled mightily to find the back of the net since early November. He entered Nashville having scored just two goals in his past 19 games.
However, a slick feed from Karlsson found Crosby during a second-period power play, and the captain made no mistake, going down to a knee and rocketing a deflection past Juuse Saros.
Sidney Crosby has three points tonight 🙌 pic.twitter.com/I2xlELES1I
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 20, 2024
“I mean, it feels good,” Crosby said. “Hit the post five seconds before that, and then to see one go in is nice. So, hopefully it’ll start to go in in bunches now. But yeah, definitely a relief to see one go in and just to find a way to get some momentum there. I thought we built off that and it was big in getting back in the game.”
Jonathan Marchessault, Luke Evangelista, Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei scored for the struggling Predators.
Up next for the Penguins is a Saturday night tilt in New Jersey.
Ten postgame observations
• If you were watching the third period of the Penguins’ game against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, you’re not surprised by the game that Crosby had in Nashville. You could see it coming a mile away.
Crosby went to a different place against the Kings. Something clicked. He operated at a different speed, with a different kind of tenacity, with a precision that is his and his alone.
Two nights later, he put up 4 points in Nashville and Crosby is checking in with 35 points in 34 games.
The Penguins have won many games recently when Crosby has been quiet and his more unheralded teammates have roared. I was talking with Rust in the locker room Wednesday and he told me that every player is streaky to some extent and the time will come when some players will cool off. That, Rust said, is when Crosby will pick up the slack and heat up.
Bingo.
It hasn’t been a classic Crosby season by any stretch, but he was terrific in Nashville. There are signs. He’s heating up in a big way.
• Michael McCarron took a couple of runs at Crosby.
If you can read lips, you’ll note that Crosby had some choice words for McCarron after his power-play goal.
McCarron is a big player of somewhat limited talent, so you can’t really blame him for trying to be physical against Crosby. He doesn’t have much other choice. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to win a stick-handling contest against him.
That said, I can never understand why any player chooses to get under the skin of great players. Really, how often does it work? I’ve always found that Evgeni Malkin plays better when angry and, while Crosby doesn’t always do so, I’d still think it wise to leave him be.
He got mad. And when he got mad, the points started multiplying.
• In theory, I don’t love the idea of Rust and Rakell playing on the top line if only because they’re by far the team’s two best wingers. I’m a big believer in spreading the wealth. To me, it makes sense for one of those two top wingers to play with Malkin so that the Penguins potentially have two dynamic lines.
But … yeah, you can’t split these guys up right now. It’s not just the talent that all three players own, but rather, the chemistry.
“I thought his line was terrific all night,” Mike Sullivan said of Crosby. “Obviously, they’re all over the scoresheet. Sid’s in the middle of it all, so I think it’s been coming. I told you guys this for a few games now, I just feel like he’s going to bust out. He’s been all around it. He gets a great goal tonight, but I just thought his overall two-way game was terrific.”
It was on display all night, starting with Rust opening the scoring in the first period.
That’s 15 goals for Rakell, who is on pace for 36.
• What else can we say about Rust?
This is a great player who has probably never played better. He’s got 14 goals and 25 points in 27 games. Rust has effectively replaced Jake Guentzel’s production since Guentzel was traded to Carolina last season. That was no easy task.
Rust’s release reminded me so much of his classic goal from Game 7 of the 2016 Eastern Conference final against Tampa Bay.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
• While the Erik Karlsson Experience is always going to include some brutal giveaways and defensive work that doesn’t exactly satisfy the masses, he’s started to do some special things in the offensive zone.
The pass to Crosby was beautiful. So, too, was the wrist shot that evened the game in the third period.
Make no mistake, Karlsson’s performance in the first month of the season was utterly unacceptable. However, I do think it’s fair to wonder how much Karlsson was impacted by not having a training camp because he’s playing at a considerably higher level now.
• This game was nasty. You don’t think of the Penguins and Predators as having a particularly significant rivalry, even though they did meet in the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.
For whatever reason, however, this game was played with quite an edge. Blake Lizotte, one of the smallest guys on the ice, threw a knee at Stamkos and found himself in the penalty box twice. As a result, the Predators weren’t shy about confronting Crosby.
In terms of pure intensity, it was probably the Penguins’ most entertaining game of the season.
• The Penguins did not play well in this game. At all.
Sure, they generated offense and the top line was spectacular. Otherwise, it wasn’t a good outing. Lizotte, Karlsson and Anthony Beauvillier were all guilty of really bad penalties.
Nashville found itself on odd-man rushes all game. Kris Letang was trapped on a couple of occasions and, in general, I’d suggest the Penguins took a step backward from the disciplined style that has suited them nicely in recent weeks.
It’s just one game, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
• You can learn a lot about the Penguins early in games. In this one, they allowed a couple of two-on-ones in the first three minutes of regulation.
The odd-man break frenzy never really stopped, even though the Penguins enhanced their game in the third period.
• Tristan Jarry allowed four goals, but I thought he played well. The Penguins were significantly outplayed during large portions of this game, and Jarry’s play kept them alive.
Don’t be turned off by what the box score says. He’s starting to play better and I thought this, while hardly a perfect game from the goaltender, was another step in the right direction.
• So, what to make of these Penguins?
On one level, I’d suggest that they didn’t play well tonight and only Crosby’s brilliance propelled them to victory. Then again, isn’t that the luxury of having Hall of Famers on your team?
The Penguins are playing much better in recent weeks, obviously. And tonight, they won a game they probably shouldn’t have won, which is something they haven’t made a habit of. More importantly, Crosby appears to be alive and well.
Newark is rarely kind to the Penguins, so it’s not a great matchup Saturday night. After that, however, the Penguins have games against the struggling Flyers, Islanders and Red Wings. This is a great opportunity.
The Penguins’ season is suddenly very interesting.
(Photo of Sidney Crosby: Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)
