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Penguins Report Card: Nedeljkovic Saves; What Pens Needed to Improve

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Pittsburgh Penguins Game Analysis; New Jersey Devils

There are nights when answering the bell means fighting or raising the intensity. On other nights, both teams need to answer the bell because it’s more like an alarm clock to awaken from a snoozer.



By late in the first period, the Pittsburgh Penguins led the New Jersey Devils in shots on goal, 4-3. For the first 19 minutes, the action was akin to a PBS takedown of Norwegian basketweaving. Cautious might be the best word, as the Penguins buttoned up but didn’t press the attack, either.

Read More: Penguins’ Rally Comes Up Short Against Devils in Shootout

Penguins forward Kevin Hayes one-timed a shot from the slot in the third period to tie the game 2-2 and force overtime. Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic robbed Jack Hughes a couple of times in the final 25 seconds of overtime to force the shootout, where the Penguins lost 3-2.

It was the fifth shootout loss in six attempts this season. Nedeljkovic submitted another stellar performance but was kicking himself for losing another shootout.

“It’s just me versus whoever. It’s just me. Yeah,” said Nedelkovic as he embarked on some self-criticism. “And it’s sucks. There’s been five or six extra points this year that we’ve kind of–I won’t say we haven’t thrown away–(but) we’ve given away because I haven’t been very good in the shootout quite frankly.”

Nedeljkovic omitted that his team was also allowed to score in the shootout. The shootout went seven rounds, and the Penguins scored only twice.

Penguins Xs and Os

New Jersey began the game with a flyer out of the offensive zone. Then, New Jersey tried stretch-passes up the middle of the ice, and the Penguins’ defensemen were a bit caught off guard.

The Penguins saved themselves from early disaster by playing somewhat (or a lot) cautiously. New Jersey’s stretch attempts were covered with hard backchecks and one defenseman over the top. It was close, but the Penguins avoided the catastrophic mistakes.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who left the game in the third period due to injury but returned, wasn’t entirely in agreement the team didn’t play well in the first two periods.

“It was pretty tight first and then second. You know, a lot of power plays … There were more special teams in second,” Crosby said, alluding to the choppy flow of the game. “We were doing some pretty good things. So I thought we pushed hard in the third. We just got better as the game went on. Sometimes it goes like that. There wasn’t much going on in the first, and then special teams dominated.”

What the Penguins didn’t do well: The Penguins weren’t able to get inside the dots easily and kept trying, albeit stubbornly, with slot passes into traffic that were incomplete or perimeter shots that goalie Nico Daws easily stopped.

That “holding onto pucks” on which the Penguins are built was not nearly present enough until the third period. The Penguins turned a few pucks into hockey hand grenades. With a few plays that should have been more, the Penguins threw pucks into traffic, hoping for the best, and they didn’t challenge the New Jersey defenders down low nearly enough.

It was a slog for 40 minutes.

Michael Bunting encapsulated the misuse of the vulcanized rubber by committing five turnovers in the first period and six by the end of the second.

But then the Penguins sprang to life in the third period.

“I thought we played hard against a really good team. I thought we played real hard,” Sullivan said. “I liked a lot of our game–I thought we defended hard. I thought we did a pretty good job playing on top of them. We came back from a two-goal deficit … unfortunately, we didn’t get the two points, but it’s a hard-fought point, that’s for sure.”

Penguins Report Card

Team: B-

Every game is essentially a must-win. To get to 95 points, the Penguins need 77% of all available points for the rest of the season. They absolutely could not afford a bland performance against a Metro Division rival.

Where was the passion? Where was the fight? The first two periods were workmanlike and professional, but they lacked the zeal of a team that has given away all margin for error.

The Penguins had two–TWO–high danger chances through 40 minutes. TWO?! However, they allowed only four; low-event hockey at its finest.

And then the gritty third period.

“I also thought we did a pretty good job in the offensive zone, just forcing them to expend energy defending us and playing on top of them there–I think that’s one of the strengths of our group. When we play against some of the quicker teams in the league like New Jersey, if you can limit their space so that you don’t give them the separation that they need to ramp up the speed or stretch the ice, that’s when we’re at our best. I thought for a lot of the game, we did a pretty good job with it.”

The biggest difference in the third period was the forceful attack. By holding the pucks, they pulled New Jersey defensemen away from the net and created space.

Alex Nedeljkovic: A

I’ll skip the stats (19 saves on 21 shots). He had to make a few tough saves to keep the guarded Penguins in the game, including stopping a shorthanded breakaway that appeared to spring the Penguins for a goal late in the first period. However, Rickard Rakell’s marker was immediately waved off due to a kicking motion.

Nedeljkovic made several big saves; neither of Jack Hughes’s goals in the first 40 minutes were soft. In fact, they were superstar goals. Nedeljkovic returned the favor when he got his skate on a 25-foot blast by Hughes with 25 seconds remaining in OT. Then Nedeljkovic held his ground in the final seconds of overtime against a Hughes breakaway.

“Obviously, there’s enough time for (Hughes) to make a play. He’s a world-class player. So, I was just trying to–as with any breakaway–just take as much time and space away from him as I could and force him to either make a good shot or make a nice move around me. It’s nice to force a save.”

“Ned” kicked himself afterward for not being good enough in shootouts, but it went seven rounds, and the Penguins were also allowed to score a few in that time.

Anthony Beauvillier: A+

There was a lot to love about his game. He was fast and on the pucks all night.

“He was great tonight. He’s an energy guy–skates really fast. Can score goals, plays the right way,” linemate Kevin Hayes said.

Beauvillier set in motion the tying goal when he created a loose puck with an aggressive forecheck. P.O Joseph jumped on the puck, took it behind the net, and set up Hayes. Beauvillier was a cut above Tuesday.

Matt Grzelcyk: A-

He’s really playing well. He’s on every puck and tight in the defensive zone. He’s playing his best hockey of the season. A couple of turnovers take the grade from a solid A to a minus.