Game Recap: Penguins 4, Wild 3

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins recover after squandering a three-goal lead in a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at PPG Paints Arena on Monday.

“Getting the lead, not having to chase the game, that’s an important part,” Crosby said. “It would’ve been nice to put it away a little bit and not allow them to come back. … We’ll just try to keep building here.” 

Crosby reached 1,535 points (568 goals, 967 assists), passing Mark Recchi (1,533 points; 577 goals, 956 assists) for the 13th most in NHL history.

Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for the Penguins (14-13-3), who have won three of four. They lost 7-0 at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. 

Ryan Hartman, Jake Middleton and Vinni Lettieri scored for the Wild (12-13-4), who had won three straight. Filip Gustavsson made 25 saves.   

“There are games and times where you have to be able to come from behind,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “I thought we clawed our way back into the game. … There are games where they're tied, sometimes you have a lead, sometimes you've got to come from behind. I thought there were a lot of positives from that.” 

Reilly Smith put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 7:39 of the first period with a backhand after Valtteri Puustinen poked the puck away from Minnesota defenseman Alex Goligoski behind the net. 

Guentzel made it 2-0, deflecting a slap shot from Erik Karlsson 36 seconds into the second period on a power play.  

Malkin extended the lead to 3-0 at 3:34 with a wrist shot on a 2-on-1. 

“I wouldn’t say there were a lot of conversations (after the loss Saturday). There were a couple of candid ones,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’re in this thing together, the coaches and the players. There’s a partnership there. We’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got to do our job as a coaching staff to bring some solutions to the table.

“We’re trying to put the players in position to be successful. We’re trying to give them a real good understanding of what Penguins hockey looks like. When we play it, we can be a real competitive team.”

Minnesota scored three straight goals to tie it 3-3 in the third. 

Hartman cut it to 3-1 at 15:06 when Brock Faber sent a pass off the skate of Penguins defenseman John Ludvig that found Hartman for a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. 

"It's the first time we had to chase in a while, but those things happen,” Hartman said. “We were able to tie it up. So, liked the way we responded." 

Middleton made it 3-2 at 17:30 with a rebound to the right of Nedeljkovic.  

Lettieri tied it 3-3 at 5:33 of the third, deflecting a shot by Jon Merrill.

Crosby scored his 18th goal of the season 47 seconds later, giving the Penguins a 4-3 lead at 6:20 on a power play by chipping in a bouncing puck from the top of the crease. 

“I don't know why we came out so weak today,” Gustavsson said. “Didn't help when they got some power plays too. You have to restart after those ones. We were always on the back foot today." 

NOTES: Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello, who did not play, is day to day with an upper-body injury. He has not been ruled out for the second half of a back-to-back against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. … Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, in possibly his last game in Pittsburgh, backed up Gustavsson. After being selected No. 1 overall by the Penguins in the 2003 NHL Draft, Fleury was 375-216-68 in 13 seasons with Pittsburgh, winning the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017. He will start Tuesday. … Penguins forward Rickard Rakell had two shots on goal in 14:45 of ice time during his return from missing 12 games with an upper-body injury. … Crosby scored his 89th career game-winning goal, tying Luc Robitaille for 24th in NHL history. Crosby also factored on the game-winning goal for the 254th time in his career (89 goals, 165 assists), sixth most in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky (330 points; 91 goals, 239 assists) paces the list.