by For the third straight game, the Pittsburgh Penguins needed a little more time to close out the night, this time rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Nashville Predators 5-4 in overtime.
Bryan Rust was the hero, capping a four-point night with his overtime goal at 1:07. In addition, Sidney Crosby ended a long goal drought with his first goal in ten games while also picking up three helpers.
Tristan Jarry took the win, surpassing former Vezina Trophy finalist Juuse Saros, who was responsible for the loss with a .750 SV%.
As the Penguins pack up for their trip to New Jersey, we discuss their night in Music City.
It wasn’t pretty, to say the least
The Predators have one of the worst records in the NHL and have had plenty of problems this season whether scoring goals or keeping pucks out of the net. Therefore, it should have been easier for the Penguins to win this contest.
Instead, Pittsburgh had nothing to do and was lucky to be tied 3-3 early in the third period. The visitors had nine shots on goal after 40 minutes.
But timely goals and saves from Jarry allowed the Penguins to stay in the contest and force overtime. Ultimately, they had a chance to win the game in regular time, but were unable to create any chances from the man advantage in the final two minutes.
Anyone watching overtime highlights will wonder how on earth they survived with sloppy passing in all three zones, but all it took was one shot from Rust to give Pittsburgh its eighth win in its last 11 games the most wins in the NHL during this period.
Always chasing the game
The Penguins should write down the motto “always chase the game” somewhere, because it describes the team’s first 34 games of the season.
Sportsnet Pittsburgh was careful to point out that Jarry conceded a goal on his first shot Thursday night for the fifth time this year.
Filip Forsberg plays a perfect pass to Jonathan Marchessault, giving the Preds a 1-0 lead.
The Penguins initially thought the puck had gone out of bounds at the other end, but declined to challenge. pic.twitter.com/PTZaj6l2NL
— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) December 20, 2024
Meanwhile, the Predators became the 18th team to score first against the Penguins 52.9% of the time on the season.
Pittsburgh remains firmly entrenched in the wild card race as it is 8-8-2 when scoring first. However, it is now 3-1-1 in its last five games, all games in which it has chased the game out of the gate.
Sloppy play could hurt the Penguins in the future
If the Penguins continue to play Jekyll and Hyde hockey and are unable to beat non-playoff contenders and fringe wild card teams, they could be in for a rude awakening Saturday night in New Jersey.
The Devils lead the Metropolitan Division and have a goal difference of plus-35 with almost as many goals this season as Pittsburgh has conceded. New Jersey may be the better away team, but the Penguins (6-7-3) come close as visitors.
Related: 5 Things You Should Know About Penguins Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Unlike their recent opponents, the Penguins will need a complete game performance like we saw against the Boston Bruins and most recently in the third period against the Montreal Canadiens.
Looking past the Devils, Pittsburgh returns home on Monday to face its lively cross-state rival, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Flyers are doing everything they can to score points. That means if the Penguins want to continue to pose a serious threat to wild card opponents, they need to clean up their game or they won’t have as much luck in future games.
Interesting facts about penguins and predators
How did you do in our match day quiz? Here are the answers.
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Patric Hornqvist
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Sidney Crosby
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Marc-André Fleury
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Robert Lang
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James Neal
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Evgeny Malkin
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Jake Guentzel
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Bob Boughner
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Tom Barrasso
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Bryan Rust
