Sidney Crosby scores in OT as Penguins edge Ducks to halt 6-game skid

Even on Halloween, the Penguins could not mask what had become frighteningly obvious.

They need to play better defense.

Having been regularly perforated by opposing offensive attacks, the Penguins entered Thursday with a six-game losing streak and an edict to be stouter in defending.

“It starts with the puck and taking care of that,” Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “I think just everybody as a collective, you can’t be one or two guys defending.

“It’s got to be everybody.”

Also, it helps when one of the greatest players in NHL history breaks out of a mini-slump and scores two goals, including a dazzler in overtime.

Such was the case Thursday as the Penguins defeated the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, at PPG Paints Arena. A partial breakaway goal by forward Sidney Crosby at 2 minutes, 35 seconds of the extra frame was the difference.

“So cool, man,” Penguins forward Cody Glass said of Crosby’s score. “I was on for the (overtime) goal, so I can tell all my friends and family about that one.”

This was the first one the Penguins had won since a 6-5 overtime home victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 16.

Since then, they had gone 0-5-1 before Thursday.

“Good, yeah, really good,” Pettersson said when asked what it felt like to get a win for the first time in two-plus weeks. “The last couple of games — even though what we’ve gone through is giving up leads — we’ve had good moments in it. Just whenever a team scores, we kind of unravel after that. I think it could have happened to us tonight. We dominated the first period and they get a goal.

“We kind of just stuck with it and said enough is enough.”

The Penguins largely played sound defense throughout Thursday’s contest as they limited the Ducks — admittedly an offensively limited outfit — to 23 shots. Meanwhile, the Penguins put 46 shots on net but were routinely stymied by valiant Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal, whose record slipped to 4-2-2.

“It was one of our more complete games,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we controlled territory. We played more of a north-south, straight-ahead game. We put pucks behind their defensemen when there wasn’t any ice to play on on the entries. We managed the puck better in those critical areas of the rink, I thought for the most part, all night long. As a result, we got a significant amount of offensive zone time. We got a significant amount of scoring chances without compromising our offense by playing a more calculated game.”

The arithmetic worked out for Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, who recorded his first win of the season (1-2-1) after he stopped 22 of 23 shots.

“It feels great,” Nedeljkovic said. “It’s a really good feeling tonight and when you can finish it off with a win, that’s what you want to do.”

Ducks forward Alex Killorn’s second goal of the season opened the scoring 15:50 into regulation.

Claiming a rimmed puck off the Penguins’ end boards, Ducks forward Trevor Zegras slipped a clever backhand pass past approaching Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves to Killorn, who was stationed under the lower-right hashmark. With Glass slow to react to the sequence, Killorn snapped a quick forehand shot by Glass’ right hip as well as the blocker of a helpless Nedeljkovic. Zegras and rookie forward Cutter Gauthier had assists.

Anaheim goal!

Scored by Alex Killorn with 04:10 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Trevor Zegras and Cutter Gauthier.

Pittsburgh: 0
Anaheim: 1#ANAvsPIT #LetsGoPens #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/EeMwEU2r0x

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 31, 2024

The score was tied 1-1 just 107 seconds into the third period via Crosby’s second goal of 2024-25.

Accepting a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk chucked a wrister toward the cage. Stationed just at the lower rim of the near circle, Crosby adroitly reached out with his stick and deflected the puck down off the ice and through Dostal’s five hole. Grzelcyk and defenseman Erik Karlsson claimed assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Sidney Crosby with 18:13 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Matt Grzelcyk and Erik Karlsson.

Pittsburgh: 1
Anaheim: 1#ANAvsPIT #LetsGoPens #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/jApdq8c7px

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 1, 2024

For Crosby, it was his first goal since that victory against the Sabres.

“I thought tonight he played his most complete game on both sides of the puck,” Sullivan said. “I think when Sid’s at his best, he tends to embrace traffic, he goes into traffic, he plays a north-south game, he hangs onto pucks down in the offensive zone, but he’s in the middle of the traffic all the time. I thought he was there tonight a lot. And there’s nobody better in the league at creating out of that chaos.”

Things got a bit chaotic later in the third frame as the Ducks generated a handful of quality scoring chances, most notably a breakaway attempt by Gauthier at the 18:38 mark.

pic.twitter.com/q1dLzxL9pW

— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) November 1, 2024

“He was huge,” Glass said of Nedeljkovic. “Made huge saves. A couple of Grade-A (chances) that some (might) go in another night. But he stood on his head. That’s huge. That’s what you need.”

Crosby provided what the Penguins needed in overtime.

Gauthier tried to skate the puck out of his own zone but fumbled it on the right half-wall. After Glass applied pressure, Crosby claimed possession and chipped the puck to the right circle, creating something of a mini-breakaway. One-on-one with Dostal, Crosby came to a halt above the crease, deked Dostal onto his backside and lifted a wrister by the goaltender’s blocker. The lone assist went to Glass.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Sidney Crosby with 02:25 remaining in the OT period.

Assisted by Cody Glass.

Pittsburgh: 2
Anaheim: 1#ANAvsPIT #LetsGoPens #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/QsrOGdMCmZ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 1, 2024

“I had a lot of time,” Crosby said. “You don’t usually get that much time. So, I just tried not to rush it, try to read the goalie. Puck was rolling a bit. It’s not too often that you get a chance to really settle it down. Tried to make the most of it, and glad it went in.”

Everyone involved was glad to get a win for the first time in half a month

“It’s a poopy feeling not winning games,” Glass said, descriptively. “It’s all self-inflicted, not playing hard in the (defensive) zone. … Today, I feel like we played really strong defensively. (Nedeljkovic) obviously made some really great saves.

“A little bit of adversity at the beginning, but we came out and got a win.”

That result was primarily due to a clear commitment to defense.

“It didn’t come easy, but we generated a lot of good chances,” Crosby said. “Didn’t give up a ton. … We got some big plays, and defensively, we were much better.”

Notes:

• Forward Blake Lizotte made his Penguins debut. Sidelined since suffering a concussion during a preseason game on Sept. 29, Lizotte primarily centered the Penguins’ fourth line. Logging 5:39 of ice time on eight shifts, Lizotte did not record a shot attempt, had one blocked shot and was 3 for 6 (50%) on faceoffs.

• Lizotte became the seventh player to wear No. 46 in a game of consequence for the franchise. His predecessors (via PittsburghHockey.net):

Victor Ignatjev, Pavel Skrbek, Jeff Toms, Joe Vitale, Dominik Uher, Zach Aston-Reese

• The Penguins’ last overtime win against the Ducks was a 4-3 home victory on Jan. 16, 2023. Forward Jake Guentzel scored the winning goal.

The Penguins' last overtime win against the Ducks was a 4-3 home victory on Jan. 16, 2023.

Jake Guentzel scored the winning goal.pic.twitter.com/vYgs6M3r8r

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) November 1, 2024

• Nedeljkovic (19) surpassed Ty Conklin (18) for 26th place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.

• Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi and defenseman Ryan Shea were healthy scratches.

• Attendance was 14,945. That is the lowest figure for any game at PPG Paints Arena this season and represented a considerable drop-off from Tuesday’s season-high of 18,195 (with former goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild in town).

Seated capacity at the venue for hockey is 18,187.

• Ducks goaltender John Gibson, a native of Whitehall, has yet to play a game this season after undergoing an appendectomy Sept. 25. The 31-year-old is designated to injured reserve.