Alex Nedeljkovic strong in net as Penguins turn back Blue Jackets

Mike Sullivan wants to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets each and every time he encounters them.

After all, he coaches the Pittsburgh Penguins and they are Metropolitan Division rivals.

But like just about anyone with a soul, Sullivan harbors veneration for the Blue Jackets in how they’ve mustered up enough backbone to remain competitive throughout the season following the shocking deaths of superstar forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, in late August, a few weeks before the opening of the 2024-25 campaign.

“They deserve an awful lot of credit for how hard they’ve played and through a challenging time,” Sullivan said Thursday in Cranberry. “That’s never an easy circumstance. I’m sure in a lot of ways — it appears on the outside — they chose to utilize a very difficult circumstance as a rallying cry. I know how popular Johnny Gaudreau was with his teammates in Columbus.

“Those players and the coaching staff and management team in Columbus deserve an enormous amount of credit for how they’ve chosen to approach a very difficult circumstance.”

The Penguins were able to overcome the determined but depleted Blue Jackets on Friday at PPG Paints Arena with a 6-3 victory.

Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, appearing in his first game since March 7, was busy as he stopped 44 of 47 shots as his record improved to 13-14-5.

Relegated to strictly backup status behind typical starter Tristan Jarry for two weeks, Nedeljkovic faced a season-high in shots.

“It was great,” Nedeljkovic boasted when asked about the ample volume of pucks he saw. “They were just kind of throwing pucks from everywhere, so it was nice to feel it, especially at the start. There were a couple of weird bounces there, and I think that comes with that many shots. There’s going to be some weird ones that come in, and they got a few good tips and deflections on some.

“I saw probably a little bit of everything tonight.”

Presumably, everyone with a vested interest in the Penguins enjoyed what they saw from fourth-line banger-and-crasher Boko Imama, who had a fight and a goal (which wound up being the winning score).

“It was great,” Imama said. “Even after the fight, I felt the crowd getting into it. Obviously, following up with a goal is just the cherry on top. So, it was nice.”

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring 5:28 into regulation with his 14th goal of the season.

Accepting a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, defenseman Kris Letang lobbed a wrister wide of the cage on the near side. The puck bounced off the end boards and deflected to the lower rim of the left circle where Penguins forward Connor Dewar darted in and swept a forehand shot toward the crease. Linemate Philip Tomasino crashed in and inadvertently deflected the puck with his stick blade to the right of the blue paint. Thumping his left shoulder into Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, Malkin jabbed the rebound with a backhander by goaltender Elvis Merzlikins’ left skate on the near side. Tomasino and Dewar had assists.

Now is a great reminder to vote for Evgeni Malkin to the #NHLQCTeam ???? pic.twitter.com/s1I8O0xZ1A

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 21, 2025

At 11:49, Imama tussled with Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier. The two heavyweights mostly engaged in a sparring session until they tired out.

“I definitely asked for it,” Imama said. “Obviously, I want to let my teammates know and everybody know that’s what I’m here to do. Play that physical game, and I’m just willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”

The hosts doubled their lead when forward Noel Acciari accrued his fifth goal at 13:51 of the first period.

After Acciari won a faceoff in Columbus’ right circle, linemate Blake Lizotte claimed possession on the near wall and made a power move to the cage against Blue Jackets rookie defenseman Denton Mateychuk. Lizotte attempted a forehand shot that was blocked by Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov. As Matecyhuk fell into Merzlikins, Acciari, stationed above the crease, calmly swatted in a backhander off the rebound. Lizotte logged the lone assist.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Noel Acciari with 06:09 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Blake Lizotte.

Pittsburgh: 2
Columbus: 0#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/2C0TRyg5No

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 21, 2025

Only 16 seconds later, Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner struck with his first goal of the season.

Taking a pass below the Penguins’ goal line on the left wing, Provorov scooted behind the cage and fed a pass to the top of the right circle where Mateychuk pumped a wrister on net. Positioned just below the right hashmark, Jenner managed to deflect the puck by a kneeling Lizotte as well as Nedeljkovic’s blocker on the near side. Assists went to Mateychuk and Provorov.

Columbus goal!

Scored by Boone Jenner with 05:53 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Denton Mateychuk and Ivan Provorov.

Pittsburgh: 2
Columbus: 1#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/bTmNCcO4S5

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 21, 2025

The Penguins responded a mere 46 seconds later via forward Rickard Rakell’s team-leading 32nd goal.

From his own left corner, Provorov tried to clear the puck out of the zone with a backhander, but Rakell managed to pinch it off near the visiting bench. Linemate Sidney Crosby picked up the errant puck, curled around the top of the slot to the right circle and backhanded a pass to the opposite circle. Penguins forward Bryan Rust accepted the puck and coolly slid a forehand pass to the top of the crease where Rakell easily re-directed a forehand shot by Merzlikins’ glove. Rust and Crosby collected assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Rickard Rakell with 05:07 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Bryan Rust and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh: 3
Columbus: 1#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/0Bvb0vIjnY

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 21, 2025

Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth scored his eighth goal 1:35 into the second period.

After Danforth won a faceoff in the Penguins’ right circle, the puck slid to the center point where Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson whacked a one-timer at the cage. Acciari partially blocked the puck, which made its way on net thanks to Olivier deflecting it. Nedeljkovic made the initial save and denied Danforth on the ensuing rebound. Penguins defenseman Conor Timmins tried to mash the puck into Nededeljkovic’s blocker to freeze play but wound up directing the puck into the cage. Danforth was credited with the score off assists from Olivier and Severson.

Columbus goal!

Scored by Justin Danforth with 18:25 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Mathieu Olivier and Damon Severson.

Pittsburgh: 3
Columbus: 2#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/nahSNC5RtS

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 22, 2025

An unlikely source supplied the Penguins with offense when Imama scored his first goal of the season and second of his career at 8:15 of the second period.

Penguins forward Kevin Hayes won a draw in the Blue Jackets’ left circle, allowing linemate Danton Heinen to claim possession. Curling toward the near corner, Heinen slipped a clever pass to the back to the circle where Imama snapped an immediate wrister by Merzlikins’ blocker on the near side. Hayes supplied a stout screen on the sequence. Heinen and Hayes had assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Bokondji Imama with 11:45 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Danton Heinen and Kevin Hayes.

Pittsburgh: 4
Columbus: 2#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/GvKSmn24f0

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 22, 2025

A more likely source supplied the Penguins with more offense when Crosby scored his 25th goal at 15:30 of the middle frame.

Former Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson chased down a loose puck in his own right corner and misfired on a short-area pass to the near circle intended for Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly. The puck wound up sliding to the center point where Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk accepted the charity and lobbed a precise shot/pass toward the net. Crosby identified Grzelcyk’s intentions and deftly deflected the puck from the right of the crease behind a beleaguered Merzlkins. Grzelcyk generated the only assist.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Sidney Crosby with 04:29 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Matt Grzelcyk.

Pittsburgh: 5
Columbus: 2#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/b6myr3cmdQ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 22, 2025

The Blue Jackets persisted and forward Kent Johnson scored his 22nd goal 3:45 into the third period.

After Nedeljkovic stopped a re-direction from Kuraly, Johnson scooped up the rebound to the left of the crease and circumnavigated his way behind the cage to the lower rim of the right circle. Turning to his right, Johnson gripped and ripped a wrister over Nedeljkovic’s glove on the near side. Kuraly and forward Yegor Chinakov captured assists.

Columbus goal!

Scored by Kent Johnson with 16:15 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Sean Kuraly and Yegor Chinakhov.

Pittsburgh: 5
Columbus: 3#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/OYMESUhbXX

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 22, 2025

The Blue Jackets continued to bombard the net and nearly scored again at 3:31, but a spine-bending save by Nedeljkovic on Blue Jackets forward Luke Kunin dashed those hopes.

NED SAYS NO!!! ???? pic.twitter.com/k0xAtqBpLQ

— NHL (@NHL) March 22, 2025

“Just trying to battle and fight,” Nedeljkovic said. “The puck was kind of going to my right, and it took a weird bounce to my left, and momentum was just carrying me the other way. I just tried to do whatever I could to take up net and space. Luckily, it hit me.

“We did a good job of battling in front of me and tying up sticks and not really giving them a chance to kind of cradle it and bury it. So that’s just one of those ones where you keep fighting and you never know what happens.”

Rust capped the scoring with his 23rd goal on an empty net at 18:03. Rakell and Nedeljkovic had assists.

Empty net goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Bryan Rust with 01:57 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Rickard Rakell.

Pittsburgh: 6
Columbus: 3#CBJvsPIT #LetsGoPens #CBJ pic.twitter.com/FMciSM8OZg

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 22, 2025

The Blue Jackets’ losing streak reached six games (0-5-1) while the Penguins won for the fifth time in their past six games by showing some determination of their own.

“We’re not going to give up,” Rakell said. “Obviously, we’re some points out of the playoffs, but you never know. Just play every game like it’s your last.”

Notes:

• Imama became the 582nd player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

• Before Friday, Imama’s only other NHL goal came as a member of the Arizona Coyotes in a 5-4 overtime home loss to the St. Louis Blues on April 23, 2022.

Before Friday, Boko Imama's only NHL goal came as a member of the Coyotes in a 5-4 overtime road loss to the St. Louis Blues, on April 23, 2022pic.twitter.com/VI28GMmlac

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) March 22, 2025

• Rakell (171 points) surpassed forwards Ryan Malone and Rod Schutt (169 each) for sole possession of 50th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Friday’s game saw the Penguins allow the second-most shots they have surrendered this season. The high-water mark remains the 50 they allowed to the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-0 road loss on Oct. 25.

Nedeljkovic is in a four-way tie for the NHL lead in points by a goaltender with three (one goal, two assists). He shares that mantle with Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders (one goal, two assists), Pyotr Kochetkov of the Carolina Hurricanes (three assists) and Dustin Wolf (three assists) of the Calgary Flames.

• Penguins forwards Emil Bemstrom (undisclosed injury) and Thomas Novak (undisclosed injury) as well as defensemen Sebastian Aho (healthy) and Ryan Shea (suspected left wrist or hand) were scratched.