Goaltending Change Sparks Penguins In 5-4 OT Win Over Flyers

Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers could have gone very sideways for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In fact, it started to go sideways early on.

But then, there was a definitive turning point that reversed their fortunes and led them to a 5-4 overtime victory.

Midway through the second period – after the Flyers went up, 3-0, on goals by Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, and rookie sensation Matvei Michkov – it looked like it was going to be a repeat of Tuesday’s brutal 6-1 loss to the Flyers. However, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan made the decision to pull starting goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic in favor of rookie Joel Blomqvist.

And Nedeljkovic wasn’t having it. In reaction, he slammed his stick into the crossbar behind him and then onto the ice, breaking it. He then skated to the bench and slammed the door shut before yelling in the general direction of the coaching staff in a raw outburst of anger and emotion.

Nedeljkovic is a very passionate guy. He holds himself accountable. The first two goals weren’t really on him – although the Penguins surrendered the first goal on the first shot for the 12th time this season – but he was stuck too far out of his net on the last one. He’d probably tell you the same.

But the Penguins needed that change. It felt more like a move to get the team going.

And It worked.

Two minutes and 19 seconds after the change, Philip Tomasino scored a nasty net-front goal to cut the Flyers’ lead to 3-1. Erik Karlsson scored just 30 seconds later to cut the deficit to one.

Then, Boko Imama laid a thunderous hit – a blatant interference – on Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway, who was down for some time and did not return to the game. The Penguins failed to kill the ensuing penalty – they surrendered a second goal to Michkov – but it did not seem to faze them.

With less than two minutes to go in the second, Karlsson scored a second goal – a rocket of a wrist shot from the right circle – to put the Penguins back down by one.

And the Penguins continued that momentum into the third period, as Evgeni Malkin tied the game two minutes and 30 seconds into the final frame. He made a play in the neutral zone to get the puck to Anthony Beauvillier, then he finished the play from the left circle off a drop pass from Beauvillier.

The teams traded chances for much of the third period, and it forced overtime. And just over one minute into overtime, Malkin finished a gorgeous, patient play at the net-front to make Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale overcommit, and he buried the puck behind Sam Ersson.

Malkin finished the night with four points, and Karlsson had three points. Both were very, very good for the Penguins, especially after the momentum shift with the goaltending change.

Blomqvist gave up one goal to Michkov, but he was stellar late in the game when it mattered.

“The decision to pull Ned wasn’t so much performance-based as it was to try to change some momentum in the game, “ Sullivan said. “I have no problem with Ned’s reaction. For me, that’s just an indication of how invested he is. He cares, he’s competitive, he wants to win. That’s raw emotion, and I have no problem with that.

“Quite honestly, I think he inspired the group to want to compete for him. I thought our team responded, and I think Ned was a big part of it.”

Here are just a few other thoughts and observations from Thursday’s win:

_ Tomasino continues to show why he’s a valuable player for the Penguins. He has four goals and six points in his last eight games, including four points in his last four. He seems to have developed some chemistry on the third line with Kevin Hayes.

However, Tomasino belongs in the top-six next to Malkin, especially with the deficiencies on this roster. They were a good combination when Tomasino first arrived on Nov. 25, and he has so much skill to boot.

I know Sullivan likes having more than one center on each line, and particularly, the top two lines for strong-side faceoff matchups. But Cody Glass has just three goals on the season, and he just doesn’t seem to mesh well on that line.

I’d like to see if Tomasino and Malkin can recreate some of that chemistry we saw back in November and December. It could really make a big difference for Malkin.

_ Speaking of Malkin, he was exceptional on Thursday. That is Malkin’s second four-point night of the season and fourth night of three or more points.

Malkin, at age 38, has been streaky this season, to say the least. He has 12 goals and 41 points in 51 games, and he was on a tear to start the season before going into a bit of a funk mid-season.

With both Rust and Rakell playing alongside Crosby, Malkin hasn’t had the benefit of playing alongside the team’s best wingers. However, I think he and Beauvillier have some chemistry. Beauvillier’s drop pass to Malkin on the fourth goal was perfect, and he has good offensive instincts.

If Beauvillier isn’t traded by the NHL trade deadline, I’d like to see him, Malkin, and Tomasino make up a line for a bit.

– I might be the only one who thinks this, but I didn’t love the hit by Imama.

The Penguins had already seized momentum and made the game 3-2. There is, obviously, a time and place for physicality and a bone-crushing hit, but this was not it. Especially since it was a blatant interference that resulted in a penalty and, by extension, a Flyers’ goal that very easily could have sunk the Penguins.

I think reducing the hit – originally a five-minute major – to a minor for interference was the right call. Flyers head coach John Tortorella certainly did not agree, but even if it was a hit on a player away from the puck, it was still a shoulder-to-shoulder.

I also think the hit was a direct response to Hathaway’s hit just seconds before on Acciari.

_ Vincent Desharnais and Ryan Graves were on for all three of the Flyers’ five-on-five goals on Thursday.

I understand the logic behind the pairing to a certain degree. They’re both big bodies. But they’re just so, so slow. It’s like watching molasses when they’re trying to defend the rush.

To their credit, they – like everyone else – got better as the game went on. But I’m not sure it’s a pairing the Penguins will want to keep together much longer. It really sunk them for a lot of the night.

_ That said, good for Graves to finally get the monkey off his back and record that secondary assist on Malkin’s goal, which – 43 games later – was his first point of the season.

It’s quite remarkable that it took that long, but honestly, he came close on several occasions. Glad to see one finally materialize.

_ Shifting to the Flyers’s side, Michkov is going to be a major problem for the Metropolitan Division for years to come.

He just stands out so much above pretty much everyone else. His puckhandling and stick skills are marvelous. The Flyers’ seventh overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft also has great vision, refined playmaking skills, and a lethal shot. Michkov has 18 goals and 44 points in 58 games on the season so far.

This guy is going to be the best in the division very, very soon. He’s that good, folks.

_ Regardless of whether or not their season is sunk, this was a huge win for the Penguins.

Forget the standings points for a second. They just needed a feel-good win like this, especially with the way the last three games have gone. The credit goes to the team for battling back.

But it was Ned who put out the rallying cry, and his teammates know that.

“You feel like you let Ned down,” Graves said. “He battles for us, he’s a really hard worker, he’s a great guy, and we’re a team. We’re not down 3-0 because of Ned, we’re down 3-0 because of the entire group. He was frustrated because he wants to win, and so do we. The players do that stuff all the time, and you guys just don’t see it because we’re able to hide on the bench, and we get time between shifts.

“So, it’s warranted. It’s part of the game. We’re emotional, he’s a competitive guy, and you want to see that.”

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