Penguins Kept Pushing Back in Wild 6-5 Win Over Boston

On Thursday night in Boston, the Penguins gave up a goal in the first minute of play, just like they did on Tuesday night versus Washington. This time, however, they didn’t dig themselves into a hole.

They responded quickly with a tally as part of a wild start that featured five goals in the first eight minutes of play. It went on to be an entertaining, back-and-forth game until the finish, with the Penguins earning a 6-5 victory.

"Throughout the course of the game, there was a lot of good, and then some not so good,” Mike Sullivan said with a laugh. “But I really liked how we responded. We didn't allow it to get us down and snowball into something worse.”

Sidney Crosby scored what stood as the game-winner over midway through the final frame after Pittsburgh gave up the tying goal shorthanded early in the period. He followed that up with his usual excellent defensive play to help Pittsburgh hold onto the lead, capping off a terrific performance for the Penguins captain, named to his 10^th career All-Star Game earlier in the evening.

“I just think he's the heartbeat of our team. He’s the guy that is the standard bearer, and when the stakes are high, I think that's when he's at his best,” Sullivan said.

Alex Nedeljkovic got the start for Pittsburgh, saying afterward, “it's fun to win those games – maybe not for the goalies, but it's a heck of a lot better than coming out on the losing side for us. So, it was great.”

There’s a lot to unpack, so we’ll start at the top with Drew O’Connor’s goal. The 25-year-old forward looked like he was shot out of a cannon, scoring at even strength before creating two quality chances after the Penguins got the first penalty of the night. It’s been a breakthrough year for O’Connor, who’s shown that he can play on any line, but particularly in the top nine.

Ryan Graves added another to make it 2-1, a nice moment for the big blueliner after moving out of the top four for the first time this season as the Penguins try to help him find some consistency in his game. While David Pastrnak tied it at 2-2 shortly after, the Penguins again responded. Jake Guentzel converted a feed from Crosby, and Lars Eller finished off a setup from O’Connor to make it 4-2 Pittsburgh going into the first intermission.

Jeff Carter put the Penguins up 5-3 right after Boston returned to full strength following a penalty kill. The Penguins had a dominant first half of the second period, building a 14-0 edge in shots before the Bruins scored on their first one at the 9:51 mark. As expected, Boston continued to push from there, getting another with 35.8 seconds left in the period to climb within one.

Then, just over three minutes into the third period, with the Penguins on a power play, Brad Marchand made a great individual play to score a shorthanded goal and even the score.

But Sullivan said the biggest thing for him relating to Crosby’s impact is ensuring the team responded correctly to that sequence. When the Penguins went back to the man-advantage with 8:48 remaining after Charlie McAvoy got called for hooking Carter, Crosby won the faceoff back to Erik Karlsson and got it right back, with his shot changing direction on its way to the net and fooling Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.

“I think having come off the power play we got scored on, we wanted to get that momentum, get it back," Crosby said. "Big play by Carts there to draw one, and I just tried to get it through. I think it hit their D and deflected in.”

From there, Pittsburgh managed to shut down a Bruins team who had won four in a row and is putting together yet another tremendous season following last year’s Presidents Trophy campaign.

“Just one of those games where the last goal is going to win, and we got the last one," Crosby said.

Nedeljkovic said Sullivan talked to them afterward about how it can be hard to stay on it and stay positive after some tough sequences, so the Penguins coach was proud that his team didn’t let those moments get them down.

“We give up a goal in the first shift of the game, for example. Then I thought our pushback was terrific the rest of the period. We give up the power-play goal against in the third, then the pushback, I thought, was really good – then the power play gets an opportunity and they score,” Sullivan said. “Those are the things, for me, that I think are huge opportunities for us to grow as a team.”

Eller awarded Carter the Bold Penguin helmet after the game, with the veteran also repeating some wisdom from their coach: “As Sully said, sometimes it doesn’t go our way, but you stick with it, that stick-to-it-ive-ness, it keeps you going. Great job, let’s keep it rolling at home.”

The Penguins, who host Buffalo on Saturday, are now 8-2-1 in their last 11 games as they continue to battle for points in a crowded playoff field in the Eastern Conference. Since December 12, no team in the NHL has more wins (8) and points (17) than Pittsburgh.

"Tonight, on both sides, there were some tips and some weird plays that ended up in the net. But for the most part, we've been pretty good consistently being good defensively," Crosby said. "So that's a big part of it, giving ourselves a chance every night that way, and our goaltending's been awesome. Both those guys have played well and given us a chance every night."