Reilly Smith hit double digits in goals (10) while Bryan Rust now has goals in three straight and four of his last five. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves, and has now picked up points in 12 of his 16 decisions (9-4-3).
“I thought Ned was solid. He made some timely saves when we needed them and that’s an important part of winning,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said.
The Penguins needed this response after a difficult loss to Florida on Thursday night, where they lost one of their best players. Jake Guentzel left the game with about 12 minutes remaining in the third period, and Pittsburgh announced on Friday that the star winger has been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
Guentzel, who had been tied with Crosby for the team lead in points (52) and second in goals (22), is expected to miss up to four weeks, with a projected return to the Penguins in early March.
"We've got to keep competing," Sullivan said before puck drop. "Obviously, Jake's an important part of the team. He's a tough guy to replace, but it's going to provide opportunities for others to step up. We've just got to make sure we focus on guys that are in the lineup here. We believe we have enough to win.”
Starting with the captain.
"It looked to me like he was trying to will it for us," Sullivan said. "I thought he was locked in from the very first shift. He was strong on pucks all night."
Guentzel’s longtime linemate set the tone on the first shift, as Crosby scored 15 seconds in. Rickard Rakell, bumped up in Guentzel’s absence, worked the puck back to his friend and countryman Marcus Pettersson. The defenseman quickly put it on net, with Crosby tipping it beautifully for his 29th of the season.
“I thought it was a huge start for us,” Pettersson said. “We were all disappointed with the result last night and how the game went. So, just the response, to be able to get off to a good start, it kind of loosened us up a little bit to make plays.”
After Smith tallied, Crosby nearly got another, toe-dragging into the slot and unleashing his famous backhand off the post. The Blackhawks then went the other way, with Philipp Kurashev finishing off a sick saucer pass from Bedard, returning to the lineup after missing 14 games with a broken jaw suffered on a hit from Reilly’s brother Brendan, a defenseman for the Devils.
Chicago kept much of their momentum from there, which carried over into the third… until Crosby took charge.
"We've been relying upon him all year, and he never fails, so we're going to keep doing that," Pettersson said. "But when people get hurt like Jake, we're going to need people to step up and I thought a lot of people stepped up tonight. But we can feed off Sid's energy. He was battling all night. It doesn't matter if he scores two or zero. He's just battling. He's such a leader, and whenever he can do that, we can all follow."
The goal came on a feed from Rakell, who made some terrific plays. This could be a spark for the five-time 20-goal scorer through his uncharacteristic struggles production-wise this year, with just five goals in 38 games and none since Jan. 8.
“We got the win here tonight, that’s all that matters,” Rakell said. “I want to keep playing with confidence like we did today, and just keep getting better.”
Rust then sealed the victory with a shorthanded empty netter in the last minute.
Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden slotted in after getting called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, with P.O Joseph scratched on defense. The Penguins return to game action on Sunday against Los Angeles, where they will raise Jaromir Jagr’s no. 68 to the rafters as part of a pre-game on-ice ceremony. The plans for Pittsburgh’s Celebrate 68 weekend can be found here.
