If one thing has been consistent in these past three seasons, it’s that the Pittsburgh Penguins never go down without a fight at the end of the season.
And although they’re a far cry from a 8-2-2 run to nearly pull off a playoff berth akin to 2023-24, their captain – and their goaltender – is leading the charge to make things somewhat interesting.
Sidney Crosby scored two goals, and the Penguins defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2, on Erik Karlsson’s overtime winner to secure their second consecutive win. Goaltender Tristan Jarry – who earned his second consecutive start after a solid outing Sunday in a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild – was outstanding, as he stopped 36 of 38 Vegas shots, many of which were high-danger looks.
“It’s great,” Karlsson said. “He’s a great person. He works extremely hard at his game, and he hasn’t had the best of luck as of late. And, I think over the course of his career, he’s shown that he’s a good goaltender in this league.
“So, he had little bit of a bump in the road, but it’s nice to see him coming in, and he hasn’t changed one bit, which is awesome to see. It’s easy to get down on yourself, but he’s come in here, and he believes in himself, and he’s the same person he was since last we saw him. The last few games for us, he’s proven that he is capable of winning games for us.”
Vegas got some chances early on, and Jarry stood tall to keep it scoreless. The Penguins began to push a little bit in the back half of the first period, but the Golden Knights did a solid job stymying breakouts and clogging lanes.
But Vegas forward Tomas Hertl took a high-sticking late in the first period, and Crosby took advantage of a nice backdoor feed from Rickard Rakell, going on one knee to finish it off and give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Crosby struck again early in the second. He won the faceoff, and then Rakell won a puck battle along the wall to squirt the puck back out to Crosby. The Penguins’ captain walked right in and snuck the puck underneath the pad of Ilya Samsonov, and the Penguins went up, 2-0.
Vegas struck on the power play with just over five minutes remaining in the middle frame, as Pavel Dorofeyev blasted a one-timer behind Jarry to make it 2-1. Then, Vegas really pushed in the final frame – but Jarry gave the Penguins a chance.
The Golden Knights ended the evening with 38 shots, and 20 of those came in the third period. He kept the score 2-1 very late into the game. Unfortunately, with only 6.7 seconds left on the clock, Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin put a puck past Jarry through traffic to force overtime.
And then, just 49 seconds into overtime, Evgeni Malkin carried the puck into the attacking zone and left a pass for Karlsson, who picked his spot from the right circle and sent the Penguins home happy.
“‘Tanger’ made a great change, and Geno drove down and two guys followed him,” Karlsson said. “And I kind of just jumped on the ice and had an opportunity. Didn’t have many other options – usually, I look for a pass first, but – couldn’t see anything out there. So, I decided to shoot, and luckily, I got the spot I wanted to.”
Here are a few thoughts and observations from Tuesday’s gutsy 3-2 overtime win.
– Crosby was on another planet in this game.
Not only was he trigger-happy – despite passing on a few chances – he was simply playing with a lot of heart. He had his legs all night, he wasn’t quitting on plays at either end (not that he normally does), and he carried his team on his back.
He even had one of his trademark “football” sequences – yes, football, not soccer – in the second period, kicking the puck along the defensive blue line, and – without a stick – winning a wall battle to get the puck to his teammate and out of danger.
Sidney Crosby loses his stick and plays soccer. It works, because he’s Sidney Crosby, so of course it does.
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) March 12, 2025
If Crosby has anyhting to say about it, this team is not going to go quietly. Their season may be all but over, but that’s never going to stop 87.
– It was really awesome to see the reception for Jarry. As he made one save after another, chants of, “Jarry! Jarry! Jarry!” rang throughout PPG Paints Arena.
And, yes, it was well-deserved.
For the second conesuctive game, Jarry looked like an NHL goaltender with a lot to prove. In fact, he looked a bit resemblant of his two-time All-Star self.
It’s also easy for folks to get frustrated about the fact that this version of Jarry hadn’t shown himself earlier in the season when it mattered more earlier this season. To many, the Penguins’ draft positioning is all that matters at this point.
#LetsGoPens head coach Mike Sullivan on how Tristan Jarry can sustain his level of play from the past two games:
“Keep making saves.”
— Kelsey Surmacz (@kelsey_surmacz4) March 12, 2025
But, look, again – whether fans like it or not – you can’t tell a locker room full of players at the highest level of professional hockey to stop caring about winning hockey games. The Penguins may not be playing for a lot right now, but Jarry sure is.
And he has shown that in these last two starts. He’s been spectacular.
– Vladislav Kolyachonok spent his first handful of games as a Pittsburgh Penguin watching from the press box.
He made his Penguins debut Mar. 4 against the Avalanche on the bottom pairing, and he was there again in Sunday’s 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild.
But with the week-to-week injury of Ryan Shea, he found himself on the team’s top pairing with Kris Letang for Tuesday’s game. And he did not disappoint.
There is definitely some high risk in Kolyachonok’s game, but something I really like about him so far is that he plays a fearless game. He isn’t afraid to play physical. He doesn’t shy away from joining the rush and jumping up on the attack. And he seemed to play well off of Letang’s game, as Letang played more of a stay-at-home role on that pairing in this game.
It’s, obviously, a very small sample, but I really like what I’ve seen from him so far. I’d like to see him get an extended look on that top paring, even if Shea is back soon.
– Philip Tomasino had a pretty mixed game tonight. He didn’t make the best decisions on every shift, but one thing very apparent is that he’s clearly the best option for Malkin on this roster right now.
Malkin had his gallop tonight, and he and Tomasino definitely have a connection. Tomasino is a RFA this summer, but I do expect the Penguins to bring him back next season.
Obviously, this roster could look quite a bit different next season, and the Penguins will probably have some of their promising young forwards on the roster from the get-go in 2025-26. But Tomasino and Malkin is a combination I want to see more of.
– I quite like Conor Timmins’s game. From what I’ve seen of him in Toronto, he’s a pretty solid third-pairing shutdown guy.
The Penguins didn’t play particularly well in general as the game went on, but I think Timmins put some of that ability on display Tuesday. He’s pretty solid with his gap control, and he plays a quiet, low-event game.
Like Tomasino – and like Connor Dewar, who also came over from Toronto in a deadline day trade – Timmins is a RFA this season, but I kind of expect the Penguins to bring him back as well. At the very least, he’s a solid seventh defenseman to have.
– After a Columbus Blue Jackets loss Tuesday, the Penguins are eight points out of the second wild card spot.
Yes, I know. It’s far fetched. No one is scoreboard watching at this point. But as long as Crosby is driving this bus, the Penguins are not going to go quietly.
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