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‘Ned’ Nets Goalie Goal; Penguins Power Play Comes Alive in Big Win

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In a game that kicked off a critical seven-game road trip across the country as the Pittsburgh Penguins try to climb back into a playoff spot, they rode an efficient power play and strong goaltending on Friday while shedding some bad habits to down the Buffalo Sabres 5-2.



Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic not only made 40 saves for the Penguins, but he also scored a goalie goal with 2:46 left and had an assist.

The road trip comes after a calamitous 1-3-1 homestand during which the Penguins lost ground in the Eastern Conference wildcard race.

Bryan Rust and Cody Glass each had a goal and an assist as the Penguins (19-20-8) scored three times in the second period and then bucked a nagging trend with a strong third. Buffalo (17-23-5), another team scraping to get into a playoff position, had won three of its previous four.

The Penguins played without defenseman Kris Letang, who left the pregame warmup early and was a late scratch because of what the team termed an illness.

It was the Penguins’ first game since their goaltending shakeup that resulted in veteran Tristan Jarry being assigned to the AHL and rookie Joel Blomqvist being promoted. In this game, however, Nedeljkovic started, with coach Mike Sullivan saying he did not want to throw the 20-year-old Blomqvist into a game so quickly after his recall without any practices.

Nedeljkovic made that a good call with a strong game, including a few big saves, an assist, and, of course, the goal, as he could be accused of stealing the game for the Penguins.

The Penguins got the game’s first power play, but that was negated when Evgeni Malkin was given a double minor penalty for high-sticking. Buffalo cashed in, taking a 1-0 lead on the ensuing power play at 15:16 of the first. Owen Power moonwalked the blue line, then moved in and scored on a rising shot over Nedeljkovic’s glove from above the right hash marks.

In the first minute of the second, the Penguins got another power play, and this time made good on it. Rickard Rakell scored his team-leading 23rd goal — and fifth in six games — when he rocketed a shot from the right circle off a touch pass from Rust to tie it 1-1.

Just 27 seconds later, Glass’ pinpoint outlet pass from deep in his end set up Anthony Beauvillier on a breakaway with Buffalo defenseman Henri Jokiharju chasing. Beauvillier deftly got the puck under Jokiharju’s stick to beat Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for a 2-1 Penguins lead.

With the Penguins on another power play, Nedeljkovic made a huge point-blank stop on Zach Benson shorthanded after an egregious turnover by Erik Karlsson. The Penguins turned that into a fortuitous handful of seconds, as they scored just after that. Phil Tomasino carried the puck deep and set up Glass in the slot to boost the lead to 3-1 at 11:43 of the second.

That was Glass’ second point of the night after he had no points in his previous seven games. Nedeljkovic added to his strong night with an assist on that goal.

Given the Penguins’ regrettable penchant for losing leads and playing poorly in the third, that put them in perhaps a precarious spot — a two-goal lead going into the third. It led to harsh criticism from Sullivan about his team’s commitment to play defense.

However, they responded quickly with their third power-play goal. On a man-advantage that carried over from the second, Rust scored from the left circle to push the Penguins’ lead to 4-1 at 1:09.

A bit after Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves cross-checked former Penguins forward Jason Zucker into the Penguins net, they both headed off early with 10-minute misconducts at 12:03 after they clashed.

With Luukkonen pulled, Benson cut it to 4-2 on a shot from the right dot at 14:46.

Then came Nedeljkovic’s shining moment, when he took a hit from behind the extended goal line and sent the puck the length of the ice into the empty net to make it 5-2 and give himself a two-point night.

The Penguins have a quick turnaround as they play the high-flying Washington Capitals on Saturday before heading to the West Coast.

Penguins Notes

Sullivan said Letang showed up to the arena and didn’t feel well. They will re-evaluate tomorrow.

Nedeljkovic had a goal and assist. He was the first goalie in NHL history to achieve that feat.