It is likely too little, too late for the Penguins, who went 3-4-0 on the longest road trip of Sidney Crosby’s career, but Alex Nedeljkovic stepped up to finally give them stable goaltending in the two weeks since Tristan Jarry was demoted to the minors.
Nedeljkovic stopped 27 of 29 shots Wednesday to help the Penguins beat the Utah Hockey Club. The 3-2 overtime win pulled them within five points of the last playoff spot in the East. However, all the other wild card wannabes have games in hand.
Crosby, who scored the winning goal in overtime Wednesday, praised Nedeljkovic.
“He’s played pretty well and again tonight he kept us in the game,” the captain told reporters who attended the game. “Especially overtime late there, they had a couple really good looks. He was steady for us and allowed us to find a way to get a win.”
The 29-year-old goalie has at least provided the Penguins with a sliver of hope that they can replicate their late rally of a season ago — sparked in part by Nedeljkovic.
Nedeljkovic started the first game of the road trip, which came a couple days after Jarry was waived. He stopped 40 of 42 in a win at Buffalo. He allowed one goal in Los Angeles three days later, then lost consecutive starts at Anaheim and San Jose.
Then came what Nedeljkovic called a “huge, huge” win for the Penguins at Utah.
“One [point] wasn’t going to be good enough. And we know it. We know where we are,” Nedeljkovic said. “We need two points every night here going forward. Tonight was the first step. It makes [Thursday’s] flight home a lot easier to sit through.”
Wednesday’s win at Utah in the Penguins’ first-ever game in Salt Lake City improved Nedeljkovic to 3-2-0 on the trip, and he posted a spectacular .930 save percentage.
Afterward, Mike Sullivan noted Nedeljkovic seized the opportunity in front of him when Jarry was exiled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
“He’s played extremely well. He’s made timely saves at key times that give us a chance to win,” the Penguins coach said, adding, “He just battles. He competes. I think to a certain extent sometimes his personality, it’s contagious with our guys.”
Nedeljkovic has kept rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist mostly on the bench for the last two weeks, though Pittsburgh will play the 23-year-old more if they fall out of the race.
The Penguins have four more games until the NHL takes a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. The next two are at PPG Paints Arena, starting with Saturday’s home game against the Nashville Predators. The Penguins need to finish this stretch strong or team president Kyle Dubas will work the phones even harder.
Nedeljkovic, who may start again Saturday against Nashville, knows what’s at stake.
“We’re playing some teams now before the break that we’re chasing,” he said. “We’ve got a tall task, but I think we’re capable of coming through on the positive side.”
First Published: January 30, 2025, 6:32 p.m.
Updated: January 31, 2025, 6:00 p.m.