Jake Guentzel had no clue the pass was coming until he felt it smack his blade.
Bryan Rust was confused, wondering why everyone was suddenly celebrating.
Mike Sullivan theorized that Sidney Crosby has eyes on the back of his head.
“I don’t know how he knows he’s there or saw him. But we just grow accustomed to it,” Sullivan shrugged. “He makes so many plays throughout the course of a game here, but that was a highlight-reel goal. And the timing of it was critical.”
Crosby’s latest jaw-dropping play was the turning point in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens — and maybe, just maybe, Pittsburgh’s season.
The Penguins trailed, 2-1, midway through the third period and were in danger of dropping their fourth straight game when Crosby provided another reminder of why he soon will be representing the Penguins at another All-Star Game.
Crosby and the top line were in the midst of another dominant shift inside enemy territory when Marcus Pettersson sent him a diagonal pass at the right faceoff dot. In one motion, Crosby cradled the puck, put it on his backhand and without looking made a spinning backhand pass through a couple of Canadiens.
Guentzel had just gotten a half step on the man covering him and was darting toward the far post when the backhand bullet ricocheted off his blade and in.
Asked when he knew Crosby was passing, he replied, “When it hit my tape.”
It wasn’t the prettiest of finishes, but Guentzel got it across the line to score one of the biggest goals of the season, pulling the Penguins back even at 2-2.
What a pass by Sidney Crosby to set up Jake Guentzel's goal ????pic.twitter.com/5iB6PNJWEB
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) January 28, 2024
Rust had no idea Guentzel had scored until PPG Paints Arena went bonkers.
“If you look at the replay, I’m just kind of trying to look around guys to see where the hell the puck went,” he said. “All the sudden, everybody’s celebrating.”
It was one of countless incredible assists Crosby has piled up over the years.
“That’s probably one of the best. Right on my tape. Don’t have to move my stick. That was unbelievable,” Guentzel said. “Spin-o-rama, too. Just unbelievable.”
The Penguins kept their foot on the gas, no small thing considering they were playing a speedy Canadiens team in the second half of a back-to-back set.
Pettersson was the unlikely overtime hero, scoring on a 2-on-1 rush with 2:17 left in OT, as the Penguins won their last game before the All-Star break.
The shutdown defenseman skated in, took a look at countryman Rickard Rakell then whipped a shot from the right circle past Canadiens goalie Jake Allen.
“I don’t think I’m going to get a lot of chances to score in overtime,” Pettersson said of his first career OT winner. “But it felt huge. Going into the break, earn two points, battle back once again but this time come out on the right side – it brings some juice into the break, so to speak. Got to take advantage of it.”
RAISE YOUR HAND TO VIRTUALLY HIGH-FIVE MARCUS PETTERSSON! ✋ pic.twitter.com/dCqYuuVmX9
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 28, 2024
It was just their second OT win. They lost their previous five OT decisions.
The comeback win capped off a memorable night at PPG Paints Arena, which featured Crosby’s sweet dish and Eller scoring in his 1,000th career game.
Montreal scored first when Mike Matheson, the former Penguins defenseman, took advantage of a Pettersson turnover and set up his partner, Kaiden Guhle. Tristan Jarry couldn’t slide over to stop Guhle, who scored 15:53 into the first.
Lars Eller, with family and friends in the house for his milestone night, skated away with a cool memory when he scored early in the second. Valtteri Puustinen’s shot was blocked, but the puck bounced right to Eller. He blasted it past Allen.
“That’s kind of what it’s all about – sharing the special moments with these guys in here and the people that are closest to me,” Eller said. “It couldn’t better.”
The Canadiens regained the lead with a fluky power-play goal later in the second period. Juraj Slafkovsky’s pass hit Ryan Graves in front and bounced in. But the Penguins dominated the third and won it in OT, thanks to Crosby’s heroics.
“Just a huge goal at a key time to give us an opportunity to win,” Sullivan said.
ICE CHIPS
• Eller became the first NHL player from Denmark to play 1,000 NHL games. To commemorate the achievement, the Penguins presented Eller with a few nice gifts. The Penguins all wore his No. 20 jersey during warmups. And then the team aired a tribute video during a pregame ceremony recognizing Eller.
• The PPG Paints Arena crowd lustily booed when the video tribute showed messages from Washington Capitals players Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, which made a few of the Penguins chuckle. Eller won a Cup with the Caps.
• Pettersson’s goal came after the Penguins survived a long stretch of time in OT when the Canadiens had the puck and Rust, Eller and Erik Karlsson were stuck on the ice. Sullivan thought those three hung in there and defended hard until the Penguins won back the puck. Pettersson scored two shifts later.
• After Pittsburgh went 1 for 8 on the power play Friday, Sullivan split up his personnel Saturday. The top unit was Crosby, Guentzel, Rust, Puustinen and Kris Letang. Joining Malkin and Karlsson on the second unit were Eller, Rakell and Jeff Carter. They were more dangerous and decisive but still went 0 for 2.
• Sullivan stuck with the same lines and pairs they used in Friday’s loss, though he did utilize Malkin, Eller and Rakell on a line together in the late stages.
• Injured Penguins Reilly Smith and John Ludvig skated on an individual basis Saturday morning but they were unable to make it back into the lineup before the All-Star break. Neither player is considered to be far off from a return.
STAT N’AT
9 – Eller became just the ninth player in NHL history to score at least one goal in the first and the 1,000th game of his career. Malkin is one of the others.
THEY SAID IT
“To be able to get three out of four points this weekend is big for us. I think it’s important for our own mindset,” Sullivan said. “We can go into the break feeling good about ourselves so we can come back with the right frame of mind.”
COMING UP
Saturday was the Penguins’ final game before the All-Star break. The team will not practice again until after the All-Star Game, which will be Feb. 3 in Toronto. Crosby is Pittsburgh’s lone representative. It’s his 10th career appearance.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and @mattvensel on the website X
First Published: January 28, 2024, 2:54 a.m.