Emotional Nedeljkovic Inspires Penguins to Rally Past Flyers

After the Penguins went down 3-0 early in the second period of their matchup with the Flyers on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena, Mike Sullivan felt like pulling Alex Nedeljkovic could help change the momentum.

Once the goaltender realized what was happening, the raw emotion spilled over. He broke his stick over the crossbar and slammed the door on the bench while voicing his displeasure. But as Sullivan always says, the thing they love about Nedeljkovic is that he’s a fierce competitor who battles his heart out every single night.

“So, I have no problem with Ned's reaction,” Sullivan said. “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 thought he inspired the group to want to compete for him. I thought our team responded. I thought Ned was a big part of it.”

The Penguins ended up winning in overtime, 5-4. Evgeni Malkin scored in extra time as part of a four-point night (2G-2A) for the 38-year-old forward, the 31st of his career.

“Ned’s reaction, we understand. We're not happy, too,” Malkin said before quipping in typical Geno fashion, “I'm glad I did not break my stick because I scored two goals after. But I'm mad too, because we understand we (don't give) help to him, for sure.

“I'm glad we (came) back. I mean, this is team. We fight, and score a couple goals, and we believe we can change momentum and win the game. Yeah, lots of emotion for me. I hope it gives me confidence, give confidence to the team.”

The Flyers carried play for much of the first period, building an 8-0 edge in shots, with Nedeljkovic making some key saves to keep the Penguins in it. They started tilting the ice after getting the game’s first power play. Kevin Hayes was denied on a Grade-A scoring chance; Sidney Crosby followed that up with another one at full strength; and the Penguins ended up outshooting Philly 6-0 to end the frame.

The Flyers took a 2-0 lead early in the second, a second deflection goal, before star rookie Matvei Michkov made it 3-0 and ended Nedeljkovic’s night. “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. “You get a certain feeling behind the bench. That was a feeling I had. I thought we responded immediately after that. I think Ned had a lot to do with it, I really believe that. He's a very popular teammate, and nobody wants to be in that situation.”

After Joel Blomqvist entered the game in relief, the Penguins scored twice in a 1:20 span – starting when Phil Tomasino got Pittsburgh on the board with his second goal in as many games. The 23-year-old forward has been playing some good hockey coming out of the break and this month overall, with six points in his last eight games.

“Obviously, I think there’s still some aspects that I want to improve on but overall, I feel pretty good,” Tomasino said. “I’ve been getting some good looks and capitalizing on that.

Erik Karlsson followed that up with his first of the night on a shot from the point to get Pittsburgh within one.

“Ned kind of gave us a little bit of a wake-up call. It was needed,” Tomasino said. “I thought we left him out to dry a little bit. Blommer did a heck of a job coming in there. Once we started going, we played really well. Obviously, wanted to get that one back for Ned, for sure.”

Boko Imama, who seems tailor-made for this type of rivalry game with his physical style of play, was initially assessed a five-minute major for a hit on Garnet Hathaway in the neutral zone. But after review, it was changed to a two-minute minor for interference. The Flyers did convert, with Michkov getting his second of the night to move him in front of 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini for first place amongst first-year players with 19.

“Boko was just trying to create a little energy out there,” Ryan Graves said. “The guy plays with heart and soul. I’ve played against Boko for a long time. He plays the game hard. He plays the game the right way. He wants to compete. He plays for everybody else in the room. So when he’s out there, guys notice for sure.”

But to steal one of Sullivan’s favorite phrases, it’s a game of momentum – and the Penguins swung it back onto their side after going back to full strength, starting with a chance from Imama out of the box. They kept pushing and got rewarded with another goal from Karlsson, who won his third Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in 2023 after scoring 101 points.

“Karl's an elite offensive player. He can really shoot the puck,” Sullivan said. “He did a great job with his decision making (on the offensive blue line), first and foremost, and then his execution.”

Coming out of the second intermission, Malkin broke through for a big goal. He’s been so good coming out of the break after missing six games due to injury going in. After scoring the overtime winner, Malkin now has seven points in the three games Pittsburgh has played since returning to action.

“In my experience of coaching Geno for the last 10 years, he might be one in particular that can ride momentum. When he scores, when he produces offense, he becomes a confident guy,” Sullivan said. “Geno puts a lot of pressure on himself to produce, and when he doesn't, nobody feels it more than G. He's another guy that cares an awful lot about what's going on with the Penguins, and he wants to do his part to try to help us win. A night like tonight, he was a big part of the offense.”

Sullivan was complementary of Blomqvist’s play as well, saying it was a big step forward for the rookie goaltender. Both netminders will likely see action this weekend, with a back-to-back set on the weekend, and their teammates know they need to tighten up in front of them.

“We need to play right, because if we give them 2-on-1’s, 3-on-1’s, breakaways, not one goalie saves every shot,” Malkin said. “We need to block shots a little bit more. We need (to be) better in D-zone. Just help each one, Ned too. He’s trying to play hard, too. We need to help each goalie. Not a perfect night for everybody, but we take two points and just keep going. We play back-to-back against Boston, Toronto, it’s good teams. It's good challenge for us. Just play hard.”