Defense leads to another win in overtime for the Penguins

It hasn’t been overly complicated as to why the Pittsburgh Penguins have been surging in recent weeks.

At least not in the estimation of captain Sidney Crosby. To him, the Penguins’ 6-2-1 record in their nine games entering Tuesday came down to one primary factor.

“I’d say defending,” Crosby said Monday in Cranberry. “We’re defending a little bit better and probably able to get a little more (offensive) zone time. Defending better, getting out of (the defensive zone) quicker allows us to have the puck a little bit more and allows us to play in the other team’s end. There’s probably a link between the two.”

On Tuesday, the Penguins largely played a stable defensive game and carved out a 3-2 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena.

Forward Rickard Rakell’s team-leading 14th goal of the season at 1:44 of the overtime period was the difference.

That stout effort came in the Penguins’ first contest without the services of defenseman Marcus Pettersson, arguably their best defensive entity regardless of position. After suffering an undisclosed ailment in a 3-2 road shootout loss to the Senators on Saturday, Pettersson was placed on injured reserve Tuesday morning and is expected to be sidelined on a weekly basis as he convalesces.

Incumbents on the Penguins’ blue line – particularly fellow left-handed defensemen Ryan Graves, Matt Grzelyck, rookie Owen Pickering and Ryan Shea – all did their part to compensate for Pettersson’s absence. Further to that pursuit, the Penguins largely did not try to trade offensive chances with the advantageous Kings and were sound with their puck management.

“You lose a guy like (Pettersson), who plays big minutes, especially in our own end on penalty kills and defensive zone draws — it seems like he’s always out there, especially in critical moments — so, everybody was doing a good job of making up for that and putting their bodies on the line tonight,” Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said. “And that’s what it’s going to take moving forward. Even when he comes back, it’s going to take that same type of effort and commitment. I don’t want to say things will be easier if we do, but I think we’ll see that we’ll have a much better time creating offense out of our own end in doing so, if we can all bring that same desperation and urgency when we’re fully healthy.”

The hosts got off to an anemic start in this contest as Kings forward Adrian Kempe — a regular nuisance to the Penguins — opened the scoring less than a minute into regulation, claiming his 10th goal of the season only 33 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Accepting a pass above the Penguins’ right circle, Kings forward Anze Kopitar lifted a wrister on net that Nedeljkovic fought off. The rebound struck off the glass over the end boards and returned to earth behind the cage. After Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and Kings forward Alex Turcotte lost track of it, Kopitar darted by the left of the cage, jumped on the rebound and emerged to the right of the net where he dished a small-area pass to front of the crease where Kempe tapped in an easy forehand shot by the right skate of a helpless Nedeljkovic. Kopitar and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov had assists. For Kempe, it was his 14th point (nine goals, five assists) in 13 career games against the Penguins.

Los Angeles goal!

Scored by Adrian Kempe with 19:27 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Anze Kopitar and Vladislav Gavrikov.

Pittsburgh: 0
Los Angeles: 1#LAKvsPIT #LetsGoPens #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/K8Fgjpxrx0

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 18, 2024

The Penguins tied the game via forward Evgeni Malkin’s seventh goal at 6:22 of the second period.

Taking a pass in front of the home bench, Penguins forward Michael Bunting gained the offensive zone on the right wing and generated a two-on-one rush with Malkin against Gavrikov. As Gavrikov slid to the ice to take away a passing lane, Bunting flipped a backhander toward the crease that hit off the far post. Malkin crashed in from the left of the blue paint and his stick made slight contact with the puck before it deflected into goaltender Darcy Kuemper’s left leg and slid back into the cage. Malkin fell into Kuemper and dislodged the cage after the fact thanks to a shove from Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke. Bunting and Bryan Rust registered assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Evgeni Malkin with 13:38 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Michael Bunting and Bryan Rust.

Pittsburgh: 1
Los Angeles: 1#LAKvsPIT #LetsGoPens #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/Sh6Uf4YFJw

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 18, 2024

Turcotte regained the lead for the visitors at 11:38 of the second frame with his fourth goal.

After Pickering was unable to keep a puck in Los Angeles’ zone at the left point, Turcotte claimed it in the neutral zone and gained the Penguins’ blue line on the right wing. With something of a breakaway, he lasered a wrister from the right circle over Nedeljkovic’s glove on the near side. Assists went to Gavrikov and defenseman Jordan Spence.

Los Angeles goal!

Scored by Alex Turcotte with 08:22 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence.

Pittsburgh: 1
Los Angeles: 2#LAKvsPIT #LetsGoPens #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/kbQ6vzc8Zm

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 18, 2024

An unlikely source tied the game when Grzelcyk scored his first goal of the campaign — and first with the team — at 14:25 of the third frame.

Driving the puck deep into the right corner of the offensive zone, Crosby drew the attention of most of the Kings defenders and then flicked a clever backhand pass to open space in the far circle for Grzlecyk. With an acre of ice and a calendar of time to operate with, Grzelcyk gripped and ripped a wrister by Kuemper’s glove on the far side. Crosby and Rakell collected assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Matt Grzelcyk with 05:35 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell.

Pittsburgh: 2
Los Angeles: 2#LAKvsPIT #LetsGoPens #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/EknTBs5KnY

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 18, 2024

Entering the game, Grzelcyk had the odd distinction of having scored the most points in the NHL this season — he had 15 assists before Tuesday — without scoring a goal.

“You always feel better about your game when you see the puck going in the net,” Grzelcyk said. “I think we have so many good forwards up front that you’re just trying to get the puck to them in areas to create. My job’s just to have a good first pass on the breakout and then, once in the offensive zone, just get it to them as quick as I can.

“Get pucks to the front of the net because we have — as you saw with the overtime goal — a lot of guys who can make plays like that happen.”

Rakell made that play happen in a remarkable fashion during the extra frame.

Chasing down a puck on the left wing wall of the offensive zone in the vast expanse offered by three-on-three play, Rakell dished a pass to the center point for Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson. Backpedaling a bit toward the right point, Karlsson lobbed a wrister toward the cage. Meandering across the front of the crease, Rakell gained separation on Kings forward Philip Danault then deflected the puck with the shaft of his stick against the grain, deftly depositing it by Kuemper’s blocker on the far side. Karlsson and Bunting had assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Rickard Rakell with 03:16 remaining in the OT period.

Assisted by Erik Karlsson and Michael Bunting.

Pittsburgh: 3
Los Angeles: 2#LAKvsPIT #LetsGoPens #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/3f5CJPPPo5

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 18, 2024

“It felt awesome,” Rakell said. “After we got down early in the game, I thought we battled back in the game. And the third period, we were pushing really hard and tried everything to score a goal. Just grinding it out. That makes it feel better to get this win.”

Nedeljkovic got the win and his record improved to 5-5-3 after he stopped 29 of 31 shots.

As has been the case over the past two-plus weeks, defense led to the desired result Tuesday.

“We’ve been doing a lot of good things lately,” Nedeljkovic said. “We haven’t always gotten the results, but that’s the way this game goes. It’s never going to be perfect. Tonight, we got rewarded for some good looks and good effort.”

Notes:

• With Pettersson going on injured reserve, the Penguins recalled defenseman Nate Clurman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Tuesday morning. Clurman as well as forwards Kevin Hayes and Jesse Puljujarvi were healthy scratches.

• Pettersson entered the day having played 115 consecutive games, third-most on the team.

The Penguins’ longest active consecutive games played streaks (including Tuesday’s contest):

Sidney Crosby – 207

Evgeni Malkin – 201

Erik Karlsson – 115

Rickard Rakell – 86

Drew O’Connor - 52

• Grzelcyk became the 576th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

• With Grzelcyk’s reign as the no-goal scoring king coming to an end, Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk is now the NHL’s leader in points without a goal (11 assists).

• Rakell recorded his first penalty of the season, an interference minor at 2:45 of the first period. He entered Tuesday as the team’s only player to appear in every game this season without a penalty.

• Bunting appeared in his 300th career game.

• Before Tuesday, the Penguins’ last overtime win against the Kings came just over 13 months ago. Rust scored the winning goal in a 4-3 road win, Nov. 9, 2023.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Bryan Rust with 16:15 remaining in the OT period.

Assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson.

Los Angeles: 3
Pittsburgh: 4#PITvsLAK #GoKingsGo #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/pnoSj7sISC

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 10, 2023

• Crosby has gone 10 consecutive games without a goal. He has 10 assists over that span.

• In 23 career games against the Kings, Crosby has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists).

• Kings forward Kevin Fiala appeared in his 600th career game.

• The Kings dressed an irregular lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

• In two career games against the Penguins, Spence has two assists.