The Pittsburgh Penguins have been let down by their goaltending for much of the season. But that certainly wasn’t the case when the Penguins took on the Buffalo Sabres Friday night.
And the guy between the pipes happened to make NHL history.
Alex Nedeljkovic became the first goaltender in NHL history to record a goal and an assist in the same game – to go along with his 40-save effort – as the Penguins defeated the Sabres, 5-2. The Penguins had three power play goals in this game by Rickard Rakell, Cody Glass, and Bryan Rust. Anthony Beauvillier added another on a beautiful finish from a beautiful feed from Glass.
But the story of the night was Nedeljkovic. He now has goals at every level of professional hockey – in the ECHL, AHL, and now the NHL – and is the only goaltender to ever accomplish that. And his historic night is all teammates and coaches wanted to talk about after the game as well:
“That was really cool for Ned,” Matt Grzelcyk said. “He plays the puck so well. The play kind of opened itself up perfectly, and that was so cool when he came to the bench rushing to us, so, the celebration’s definitely what you enjoy most.”
“That was awesome,” Rakell said. “Just to see him track down the goal and just see him celebrating after… that was awesome. So, super happy for him, and that really sealed the deal for us.”
“Actually, it’s my second time backing him up when he scored,” fellow goalie Joel Blomqvist said. “Last year in Wilkes, he scored, too, so… I guess I have to get used to it now.”
“It was great,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “Obviously, one of his strengths is his ability to play the puck. I think he’s scored in every league now. The guys were joking with him. They said all he was missing was a fight for the Gordie Howe hat trick.”
“It was awesome,” Rust said. “I love that s—. Sorry for that word, but that’s cool. I’ve seen my second one live, in person, and it’s just as cool every time.”
And as for the man of the evening… what did he think of finally scoring a goalie goal at the NHL level?
“Relief,” Nedeljkovic said. “It’s really exciting. You know, I’ve always enjoyed playing the puck. Growing up, I watched some of the best guys do it… Marty Turco, Marty Brodeur were two guys I watched a lot and learned a lot from in terms of puck handling. And, it’s been part of my game as long as I can remember.”
Nedeljkovic explained that he kind of just “let it go” when spinning around and firing the puck, and he had no idea where it went. He took a hit down low, and upon spinning back around, he saw it at the far blue line.
Once he saw everyone else beginning to celebrate – and Erik Karlsson’s arms in the air – he knew it was going in, and he went straight for the bench.
“That’s what you love,” Nedeljkovic said as chants of Ned! Ned! Ned! Woo! rang out in the locker room, courtesy of Michael Bunting. “It’s a team game. We’re all really close in here. Everybody’s rooting for each other to score, and you see it… Every time somebody scores, it’s all five guys on the ice, the other four guys are happy for him, everyone on the bench is jumping up, and it’s exciting. So, it’s nice to receive some of that excitement on my end.”
He smiled as he continued to discuss the celebration. “You know… maybe I pushed it a little too far with jumping into the bench there, but, it was my first goal… What do you expect?”
Equally as impressive as Nedeljkovic’s offensive outburst was his goaltending performance. He made 40 saves on 42 Buffalo shots, including one huge save on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity. Shortly after that save, the Penguins scored their second power play goal of the night, which was Glass’s.
All in all, it was a great performance from Nedeljkovic on both sides of the puck.
“I thought he was spectacular all night,” Sullivan said. “I thought he made some huge saves throughout the course of the game. I don’t think we were as tight as we needed to be defensively, and he was there to make the save for us. Our power play was terrific tonight, and I thought our power play and Ned, essentially, made the difference in the game.”
I’m just going to have a few other observations here because Ned really was the story of the night:
– Nedeljkovic was clearly the star of this game. But there was a clear second star as well, and he just so happened to be named the second star.
And that was Glass.
After spending the majority of games since the holiday break in the top-six, Glass found himself back on the fourth line centering Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari. Ironically, this was his best offensive game as a Penguin and just his best game as a Penguin in general.
Not only was he strong in the defensive zone – as always – his 200-foot play led to Beauvillier’s goal. Glass forced a defensive zone turnover, and he carried the puck behind Nedeljkovic. He looked up and saw Beauvillier breaking into the offensive zone, and he threaded a perfect stretch pass to Beauvillier, who made a nice move of his own to earn a breakaway goal:
“I felt like Erik Karlsson,” Glass said about his pass to Beauvillier.
He added a power play goal after that, which is the goal that Nedeljkovic earned a secondary assist on:
He was great tonight, and it’d be really good for the Penguins if Glass can continue to unleash the offensive side of his game because he’s been stellar defensively.
– Beauvillier played a nice game, too. He did have a little hiccup on the Sabres’ first power play goal, as he was on the penalty kill and caught down low and out of position when Owen Power walked in and scored.
Otherwise, he and that second line were very good. He should be in the top-six. He continually produces when he’s slotted there, and his production dries up when he’s not. He’s also a good forechecker and is good around the net, and he had several grade-A opportunities before he actually ended up putting one in the net.
– Grzelcyk is playing some legitimately good hockey right now.
We’re not seeing some of the glaring defensive mistakes in his game that we’ve seen in the past. There was also a sequence when he backchecked to break up a play in the defensive zone and then came up with a huge shot block just moments later.
He isn’t the biggest guy, and he gets beat sometimes. But he’s a very smart, decisive player in the offensive zone, he’s good on breakouts, and he plays with an admirable simplicity that other offensive-oriented guys like Karlsson and Kris Letang – who was a late scratch for Friday’s game due to illness – do not.
I’ve said in the past that it takes defensemen some time to adapt to new teams and new systems. I think we may be starting to see Grzelcyk comfortable in this one.
His likely fate is to be dealt at the deadline, as he added two more assists on Friday and is just two points shy of tying his career high of 26 points. But the Penguins’ power play is going to suffer if he’s not running it, plain and simple.
That might be something for GM Kyle Dubas to think about at the deadline, especially if this team is in a playoff spot by then.
– I don’t know what else I can say about Rakell. But, wow, was his goal a missile:
He now has 23 on the season. He’s tied for ninth in the NHL in goals. He’s on pace for 40.
Rakell has been a special player for the Penguins this season.
– This was a big win for the Penguins. They had lost three in a row. They looked defeated. The decision to waive Tristan Jarry was casting a noticeable shadow and demanded accountability from the team.
This wasn’t their best defensive effort, but they kind of found themselves on the other side of what they’ve been victimized by lately on Friday. Just as they vastly outshot the Tampa Bay Lightning and Seattle Kraken in consecutive losses, they were outshot by the Sabres, 42-19, in this one.
But they were opportunistic, and they got the goaltending they’ve so desperately been needing. They have another big game against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, and Blomqvist is likely to be the guy.
Another win could do wonders for a struggling team starting a long – and crucial – road trip.
– One more thing: I can tell you that these guys really are very close.
There is a tight-knit atmosphere in that locker room. Guys care about each other and genuinely root for each other. It’s evident that there is a certain energy in the room – that there are a lot of genuine friendships, good vibes, and “camaraderie,” as Beauvillier put it.
I know that can be said about many teams. But this one feels particularly close. Given where the Penguins are in the standings – and what the organizational goals are for the future – it’s hard to see this team looking the same after Mar. 7.
The players know the situation. But they want to play well enough to, perhaps, give Dubas a little bit of pause.
“It’s that time of year. It’s part of the business we’re in,” Beauvillier said. “Hopefully, we’re in a situation where nobody has to go.”
I think that’s a very genuine sentiment in that locker room. Regardless of what happens this season, it’s a good thing to have.
