Yohe’s 10 observations: Sidney Crosby’s late magic helps Penguins avoid collapse

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates with Erik Karlsson (65) and Valtteri Puustinen, right, after scoring during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild in Pittsburgh, Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
By Josh Yohe
Dec 19, 2023

PITTSBURGH — Part of Marc-Andre Fleury’s charm during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins was that, while he wasn’t always perfect and shutouts would often escape him, he was almost always at his best when the game was on the line.

The Penguins, in that way, paid tribute to their former goaltender in what may have been his final appearance at PPG Paints Arena.

It wasn’t a pretty game against the Minnesota Wild. The Penguins, in characteristically volatile fashion, blew a three-goal lead. In the end, however, they emerged with a 4-3 victory thanks to a Sidney Crosby power-play goal.

“The power play finally came through for us,” Erik Karlsson said.

Crosby, of course, has been coming through all season.

The Penguins captain has 33 points in 30 games this season. On a night when he won 17 of 23 faceoffs, Crosby barged to the net and banged home the game winner not long after Minnesota evened the game on Vinni Lettieri’s goal.

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“I think he’s done that for, what, 18 years,” Karlsson said. “I don’t think it’s a surprise. It’s nice to be on this side of it for a change. He’s a gamer. He always has been.”

The game almost felt like a sideshow because of Fleury’s presence.

Many in the crowd were disappointed that Fleury, the franchise’s all-time leader in wins, didn’t start against his former team. Instead, former Penguins draft pick Filip Gustavsson got the start.

Gustavsson allowed four goals on the night and, after each one, the crowd erupted into a “We want Fleury” chant that boomed throughout the building.

Mike Sullivan couldn’t help but notice the outpouring of affection for Fleury during the evening.

“It’s hard not to smile when you’re around him,” Sullivan said. “I think everybody sees that, the fans included. That’s the type of guy that he is.”

Sullivan wouldn’t have been smiling if the Penguins had dropped this game. In fact, it might have been a catastrophic setback. That’s not hyperbole.

Consider that, only 48 hours earlier, the Penguins were humiliated in a 7-0 loss in Toronto. To lose a game in that fashion, and to follow that by blowing a 3-0 lead on home ice would have been some kind of a psychological hurdle for the Penguins to clear.

But that won’t be necessary.

The Penguins can view this from a big-picture standpoint. Since general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas said last week that he’d be evaluating these Penguins — and the direction of the team moving forward — in the 20 games leading up to the NHL All-Star Break, the Penguins are 3-1, that blowout in Toronto notwithstanding.

And the power play, which was the biggest culprit during the first two months of the season, is suddenly alive and well. It recorded a couple of goals against the Wild, including the Crosby game winner.

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“We found a way,” Karlsson said.

Ten postgame observations

• The Penguins were really good in the first period, and I bring this up for a reason.

During the opening 20 minutes, the Penguins weren’t taking chances. Thus, they weren’t giving up odd-man rushes. They were making smart decisions with the puck and being relatively attentive in the defensive zone.

They’re not going to change at this point and, when I say “they,” I’m referring to the team’s best players. They just want to go, go go. Score as much as possible, the prettier the goals the better. This thinking is so ingrained in their minds. It’s never really going away, I don’t think.

Still, when they play a more conservative brand of hockey, they’re at their best. We’ve seen it so many times this season. We saw it again in the first period. In those moments, it’s as though they give in and listen to their coach, because that’s the way Sullivan wants them to play.

• This wasn’t the sharpest that we’ve seen Alex Nedeljkovic, but he was certainly good when he had to be.

He’s got a laid-back demeanor and has been very good in clutch moments this season. As a bonus, Nedeljkovic attempted to score a goal, something he did for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season and something Tristan Jarry did three weeks ago in Tampa.

Nedeljkovic’s shot appeared to be on line, only to be negated by a Minnesota high stick on the puck.

Was it going in?

“Bar down,” Nedeljkovic said with a laugh.

I don’t know that Sullivan will always be wild about his goaltenders attempting to score with a one-goal lead. But I do know that the coaching staff is very pleased with Nedeljkovic’s work. It’s easy to see why. I think he’s earned some more playing time.

• It’s time to start talking about Valtteri Puustinen.

He made two wonderful plays on two Penguins goals in this game. In the first period, his terrific play behind the net forced a turnover that led to Reilly Smith’s goal.

Puustinen made another wonderful play in the second period, this one setting up Evgeni Malkin’s goal.

For a guy who doesn’t have an NHL goal, this was quite an unselfish play. It was also the right play, as Malkin essentially had a tap-in goal.

The more I see Puustinen play, the more impressed I am. Sure, he’s undersized. But he also possesses a fairly high skill level and isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty.

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His presence is so important on the Malkin line. What if he can stick there and be an effective third wheel with Malkin and Smith? That means, that when Bryan Rust is healthy, either Rust or Rickard Rakell could theoretically slide into a third-line role. That’s not a bad thing. That’s a good thing. The Penguins badly need some depth.

Puustinen has been impressive.

• The coaching staff’s decision to move Crosby to the left side of the power play appears to be working. In this alignment, Crosby and Karlsson are playing a two-man game effectively. Everything is starting to look comfortable for this unit, which is saying something, given that it recently went on an 0-for-37 slide.

Also, simply having a net-front presence is working.

Jake Guentzel has been better in that department and deflected home a Karlsson shot in the second period.

With the game on the line, Crosby simply planted himself in front of the net and wouldn’t be denied.

Suddenly, the power play looks like it’s supposed to look.

• Smith is showing signs of coming to life. They need him to be much better than he’s been.

He’s not a great player, but he’s a good one. And the October version of Smith needs to be on display.

• I didn’t think Rakell was especially good in his return to the lineup, but we need to give him time to get comfortable after the month-long absence.

He had a couple of shots on net in this contest but didn’t really look like himself.

Mentally, I’m sure he needed a fresh start.

• Sullivan flipped the defensive pairings, going with Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson on one pair and Karlsson with Ryan Graves on the other.

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Pettersson was the most solid of the bunch, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.

I thought Graves was a little better with Karlsson than he was with Letang. I imagine Sullivan will keep the pairing together against Carolina on Thursday.

• Something seems a little off with Kirill Kaprizov’s game. He recorded an assist but otherwise wasn’t very noticeable throughout the contest.

He’s Minnesota’s star. He needs to play like it and really hasn’t been at his customary level this season.

• Noel Acciari is really starting to grow on me. He was a physical presence and looked to pick up where he left off before getting hurt two weeks ago.

He was just starting to come into his own before the victory. Keep an eye on him. I think he’s trending in the right direction.

• A quick Fleury story to close. Normally I take in the Sullivan press conference after visiting the postgame locker room.

However, I opted to visit Fleury after this game just to say hello. Pittsburgh talk show host Mark Madden and I waited for Fleury for about 30 minutes while he was visiting old teammates. When we finally found him, he was sprinting to the team bus because he was making the Wild late.

I screamed his name to get him to stop and say hello. Upon seeing us, Fleury slammed on the brakes in his dress shoes — he looked like Rafael Nadal sliding on the Roland Garros clay at the French Open — and nearly toppled over while stopping to say hi.

Luckily he gained his footing and my yelling at him didn’t cause an ankle injury.

There aren’t many people I’d wait around to speak with for half an hour when I have to write about a game. He’s one of them. He’s among the finest people I’ve met in my life and I hope this wasn’t the last time we see him in uniform in Pittsburgh. But I wonder.

(Photo: Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)

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Josh Yohe

Josh Yohe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh joined The Athletic in 2017 after covering the Penguins for a decade, first for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and then for DKPittsburghSports.com. Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshYohe_PGH