The Pittsburgh Penguins had chances, dominated for large stretches of the game Saturday, but goals didn’t follow accordingly — until the very end of regulation and overtime. Ville Koivunen scored in overtime after Rickard Rakell tied it late for a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins (5-6-1), in the second game of a three-game homestand following a sour four-game road losing skid, are 8-0-2 in their past nine meetings with the Predators. The Predators (3-3-4) were coming off a 6-0 loss to Boston.
While Predators goaltender Juuse Saros might not have looked to be having an all-star night excepting a few sharp saves, he stopped 34 shots, including 24 saves through two periods. Steven Stamkos opened the scoring for Nashville in the first, Connor Dewer tied it for the Penguins in the second, and Jayden Struble got what looked like it might be the decider later in the second.
Rickard Rakell sent it to overtime with a goal late in the third. Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs, making his third straight start for the first time with the club, and coming off a 26-save shutout against Florida, made 24 saves.
The Penguins played without top-six forward Evgeni Malkin, who was ill and also missed Friday’s practice; as well as forwards Ben Kindel (vasovagal incident), Bryan Rust (lower body), Egor Chinakov (lower body) and Justin Brazeau (lower body), and defensemen Sam Girard (lower body) and Trevor van Riemsdyk ower body). All but Malkin are on injured reserve, with Girard and Brazeau having participated in Saturday’s morning skate.
Forward Avery Hayes, recalled Saturday and making his season debut, slotted in on the second line in Malkin’s normal spot. Nick Robertson had the first sharp chance of the night.
Early in the first, he seemed to nearly fool Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros. Rakell had a short breakaway later in the first after Tommy Novak forced a turnover in the neutral zone, but Saros made a left toe save.
Rakell also was stopped on a shorthanded breakaway in the third. There was an odd momentary scare with in the first when Penguins captain Sidney Crosby took a spill along the boards.
It turns out linesman Kyle Flemington inadvertently gave Crosby something of a karate chop while extending his arms. In the second, Crosby took a puck to the face, but there was no apparent damage.
At the end of the second, Silovs came out of his net to make a save, but the puck came to a rest beside him. Nashville’s Jack Drury lunged at it and poked it in the net, but it crossed the goal line a nanosecond after the horn sounded to end the second, leaving it 2-1 going into the third.
Goals 1-0 Predators – With Penguins defesnseman Kris Letang alongside him at the net-front, Steven Stamkos (5) took a pass from Matthew Wood from the bottom of the right circle. Whether Stamkos directed the puck or it took a fortuitous bounce off his skate, it fluttered over goaltender Arturs Silov’s right pad at 9:24 of the first.
1-1 – Off the opening faceoff in the second, the Penguins dumped the puck in deep. From behind the Predators net, Elmer Soderblom fed Connor Dewer, (2) who scored on a turning shot from near the right hash marks at 0:18 2-1 Predators – From the right circle and off a feed from the near corner by Nils Hoglander, Jayden Struble (1) let loose with an unobstructed wrist shot that beat Shilovs cleanly near side at 6:40 of the second.
2-2 — Off a feed from Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell (2) scored with 66 seconds left in regulation. Crosby’s assist was the 1,111th of his career, tying Ray Bourque for the most assists with one club in NHL history.
3-2 Penguins — Ville Koivunen (2) swept across the top of the zone and scored from the the top of the slot on a shot that sailed over goaltender Juuse Saros’ glove at 3:44 of overtime. It was his first NHL game-winner.
Penguins lines, pairings Tommy Novak-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell Ville Koivunen-Hendrix Lapierre-Avery Hayes Andrei Kuzmenko-Blake Lizotte-Rutger McGroarty Elmer Soderblom-Connor Dewer-Nick Robertson Spencer Stastney-Erik Karlsson Declan Carlile-Kaeden Korczak Ilya Solovyov-Kris Letang
