• GOAL. Rust into the empty net from center red. That's his 20th. Time: 17:59, third period. Penguins, 3-0
• Third pairing out there in final three minutes ... Predators push, but Ned sees a Forsberg point shot and swallows it whole. Brunette calls timeout. 2:24.
• There's 3:14 left. Stoppage for icing. Lots and lots of Sid the rest of the way.
• Heinen, set up by Bunting, nearly shoves one through Saros. He's been the good Heinen tonight.
• Everything's so systematic now. Nobody straying. No risks. Five to go.
• At which point it's announced to the crowd by Furman South that Saros is getting one, too, for the slash, and everyone kinda settles down. Four-on-four.
• Sid nearly jams home a Rust feed, and Saros goes at him following an extra one-handed poke. Sid comes back at Saros up high. He'll sit for that. The crowd's livid. Crazy-loud with the boos.
• Puck barely left the Nashville zone for two full minutes. Crowd applauds upon whistle.
• Heavy attack from the Sid line. Exceptional work.
• Halfway through third.
• Regular turns being taken by the third pairing this period. Says a lot for confidence in Desharnais considering he knows nothing about the team's system.
• Heinen with a long-ish-range wrister off the rush. He can actually score on that. Not many can anymore. Dying art.
• Graves with the giveaway, causing a flurry in front of Ned. He still comes away with it.
• And Sid's right back for his next shift and does something super-spectacular in dangling everybody senseless before Saros forces him behind the net. Guessing he's fine.
• Sid's slow to get up after crashing into the Nashville net on a scoring chance. He's now skating it off, the length of the rink between faceoffs.
• A little loose in that opening minute. Ned covers when he didn't need to. Smart.
• Third period underway.
• Teams back on the ice.
• The Karlsson/Grzelcyk pairing's been outstanding. Not the Letang/Joseph one.
• End second period. But only after Saros shuts down Rakell from inside the left dot. Shots are 23-16 for the Penguins, 14-7 just this period. Shot attempts are 48-38 for the Penguins, and I'll continue to insist there's more to be given here.
• WOW! Tremendous save by Saros, robbing Glass after Letang and Bunting elegantly set him for a redirect right in front. Closed up the five-hole. He's been very good.
• Good, low snap shot from Glass after a physical sequence. Saros spits it right back.
• Two point-blank tries for Letang at the end of that power play. Otherwise, not much doing there. Probably best off declining any others.
• Fourth line with yet another big shift, this one drawing a power play. L'Heureux shoves Acciari, prompting Imama to come flying in there to make ... peace? At any rate, it's L'Heureux off for the trip at 13:00.
• Heinen does well to set up a big chance for Tomasino. Saros save.
• GOAL. Sid from Rakell. That's four games in a row for Sid. Very well done on both ends, going all the way left to right for the one-timer. Other assist: Karlsson. Time: 10:43, second. Penguins, 2-0
Sidney Crosby buries the backdoor feed as he scores in his fourth straight game 🐧 pic.twitter.com/wIwAQjG8AZ
• Halfway through, and there just isn't much offense at all being generated by the home team. One good chance on a rush.
• One shot each through six-plus minutes of this period.
• Strong shift for the fourth line.
• Second period underway.
• End period. Shots were 9-9, but the Predators carried possession. There's another gear to be had for the home team, for sure.
• Nothing. Never even set up.
• Entries still aren't working. Have to get deep.
• Smith slashes Grzelcyk's stick out of his hands. That's a power play with 2:45 left in the period.
• Desharnais' every instinct appears to be to make the simplest play possible. Nothing wrong with that as a trait in this particular environmnent.
• Sid threads the needle to find Grzelcyk right in front, but Saros stayed up and square.
• 'Let's go Pens!' chant begins with the upper deck to my left. This is fun.
• Sid checks Barron to the ice along the end boards. That's popular.
• More hard pressure from the Penguins and nearly another goal. Coming now.
• GOAL. Tomasino vs. his old team. One-timer from the left dot. Even-strength. Really rose up on Saros. Strange action to that shot. Assists: Karlsson, Letang. Time: 10:00, first period. Penguins, 1-0
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 2, 2025
• Not the slickest power play. Slow entries. Couple of good chances. Those need to be chips next time.
• Massive standing ovation. Hornqvist thumps his heart with his left hand. Both benches rose, as well, with stick taps. Awesome to see. Couldn't be more deserved. A true champion.
• Hornqvist video tribute happening.
• Power play. Too many men for Brunette.
• Three good chances for the Predators, but the puck slides through the crease twice without damage. They're putting everything toward the net. Everything.
• Desharnais puts that big frame into Nyquist, hears it from the crowd.
• Marchessault with a rising slapper. Ned presses it against his left shoulder.
• Boo! No rfght! Imama gave a couple stick shoves to McCarron at shift's end, but that was it.
• Faceoff: Penguins vs. Predators, Lizotte vs. McCarron, 7:08 p.m.
• Even the anthem gets a roar. Tremendous atmosphere in here. And filled to the figurative gills.
• Ha! Sullivan's starting HIS fourth line! We're about to open up with an Imama fight, kids!
• Brunette's going to start his fourth line. I always find that weird.
• Place looks like it'll be packed. Could see that Downtown this afternoon. People everywhere wearing black and gold. Pretty cool.
• Mike Sullivan's combos:
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust Michael Bunting-Cody Glass-Danton Heinen Anthony Beauvillier-Kevin Hayes-Phil Tomasino Boko Imama-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
P.O Joseph-Kris Letang Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson Ryan Graves-Vincent Desharnais
So that leaves Jesse Puljujarvi, Matt Nieto and Ryan Shea as the healthy scratches.
• Andrew Brunette's combos:
Filip Forsberg-Steven Stamkos-Jon Marchessault Luke Evangelista-Ryan O'Reilly-Gustav Nyquist Tommy Novak-Fedor Svechkov-Zach L'Heureux Cole Smith-Michael McCarron-Colton Sissons
Roman Josi-Luke Schenn Brady Skjei-Nick Blankenburg Adam Wilsby-Justin Barron
• The Penguins emerge next, and they've got Danton Heinen wearing his familiar No. 43 and Vincent Desharnais wearing No. 7. Looks like they'll play.
• And there, finally, we know Nashville's goaltender tonight, as Juuse Saros leads the Predators out for warmups. He'd been sick, prompting the recall of (a different) MattMurray, but he's apparently good to go here.
THE ASYLUM
Final: Penguins 3, Predators 0
• Who: Penguins (21-24-8) vs. Predators (18-24-7)
• What: NHL regular season, Game 54
• When: 7:08 p.m.
• Where: PPG Paints Arena
• Goaltenders: Alex Nedeljković (10-9-4, .896 SV%) vs. Juuse Saros (11-20-6, .900 SV%)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
• Radio: Penguins Radio Network
• Streaming: SNP360, ESPN+
• Boxscore: NHL.com
• Media notes: Penguins | Predators
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Ballgame. Shutout is team’s first all season
• GOAL. Rust into the empty net from center red. That's his 20th. Time: 17:59, third period. Penguins, 3-0
• Third pairing out there in final three minutes ... Predators push, but Ned sees a Forsberg point shot and swallows it whole. Brunette calls timeout. 2:24.
• There's 3:14 left. Stoppage for icing. Lots and lots of Sid the rest of the way.
• Heinen, set up by Bunting, nearly shoves one through Saros. He's been the good Heinen tonight.
• Everything's so systematic now. Nobody straying. No risks. Five to go.
• At which point it's announced to the crowd by Furman South that Saros is getting one, too, for the slash, and everyone kinda settles down. Four-on-four.
• Sid nearly jams home a Rust feed, and Saros goes at him following an extra one-handed poke. Sid comes back at Saros up high. He'll sit for that. The crowd's livid. Crazy-loud with the boos.
• Puck barely left the Nashville zone for two full minutes. Crowd applauds upon whistle.
• Heavy attack from the Sid line. Exceptional work.
• Halfway through third.
• Regular turns being taken by the third pairing this period. Says a lot for confidence in Desharnais considering he knows nothing about the team's system.
• Heinen with a long-ish-range wrister off the rush. He can actually score on that. Not many can anymore. Dying art.
• Graves with the giveaway, causing a flurry in front of Ned. He still comes away with it.
• And Sid's right back for his next shift and does something super-spectacular in dangling everybody senseless before Saros forces him behind the net. Guessing he's fine.
• Sid's slow to get up after crashing into the Nashville net on a scoring chance. He's now skating it off, the length of the rink between faceoffs.
• A little loose in that opening minute. Ned covers when he didn't need to. Smart.
• Third period underway.
• Teams back on the ice.
• The Karlsson/Grzelcyk pairing's been outstanding. Not the Letang/Joseph one.
• End second period. But only after Saros shuts down Rakell from inside the left dot. Shots are 23-16 for the Penguins, 14-7 just this period. Shot attempts are 48-38 for the Penguins, and I'll continue to insist there's more to be given here.
• WOW! Tremendous save by Saros, robbing Glass after Letang and Bunting elegantly set him for a redirect right in front. Closed up the five-hole. He's been very good.
• Good, low snap shot from Glass after a physical sequence. Saros spits it right back.
• Two point-blank tries for Letang at the end of that power play. Otherwise, not much doing there. Probably best off declining any others.
• Fourth line with yet another big shift, this one drawing a power play. L'Heureux shoves Acciari, prompting Imama to come flying in there to make ... peace? At any rate, it's L'Heureux off for the trip at 13:00.
• Heinen does well to set up a big chance for Tomasino. Saros save.
• GOAL. Sid from Rakell. That's four games in a row for Sid. Very well done on both ends, going all the way left to right for the one-timer. Other assist: Karlsson. Time: 10:43, second. Penguins, 2-0
• Halfway through, and there just isn't much offense at all being generated by the home team. One good chance on a rush.
• One shot each through six-plus minutes of this period.
• Strong shift for the fourth line.
• Second period underway.
• End period. Shots were 9-9, but the Predators carried possession. There's another gear to be had for the home team, for sure.
• Nothing. Never even set up.
• Entries still aren't working. Have to get deep.
• Smith slashes Grzelcyk's stick out of his hands. That's a power play with 2:45 left in the period.
• Desharnais' every instinct appears to be to make the simplest play possible. Nothing wrong with that as a trait in this particular environmnent.
• Sid threads the needle to find Grzelcyk right in front, but Saros stayed up and square.
• 'Let's go Pens!' chant begins with the upper deck to my left. This is fun.
• Sid checks Barron to the ice along the end boards. That's popular.
• More hard pressure from the Penguins and nearly another goal. Coming now.
• GOAL. Tomasino vs. his old team. One-timer from the left dot. Even-strength. Really rose up on Saros. Strange action to that shot. Assists: Karlsson, Letang. Time: 10:00, first period. Penguins, 1-0
• Not the slickest power play. Slow entries. Couple of good chances. Those need to be chips next time.
• Massive standing ovation. Hornqvist thumps his heart with his left hand. Both benches rose, as well, with stick taps. Awesome to see. Couldn't be more deserved. A true champion.
• Hornqvist video tribute happening.
• Power play. Too many men for Brunette.
• Three good chances for the Predators, but the puck slides through the crease twice without damage. They're putting everything toward the net. Everything.
• Desharnais puts that big frame into Nyquist, hears it from the crowd.
• Marchessault with a rising slapper. Ned presses it against his left shoulder.
• Boo! No rfght! Imama gave a couple stick shoves to McCarron at shift's end, but that was it.
• Faceoff: Penguins vs. Predators, Lizotte vs. McCarron, 7:08 p.m.
• Even the anthem gets a roar. Tremendous atmosphere in here. And filled to the figurative gills.
• Ha! Sullivan's starting HIS fourth line! We're about to open up with an Imama fight, kids!
• Brunette's going to start his fourth line. I always find that weird.
• Place looks like it'll be packed. Could see that Downtown this afternoon. People everywhere wearing black and gold. Pretty cool.
• Mike Sullivan's combos:
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting-Cody Glass-Danton Heinen
Anthony Beauvillier-Kevin Hayes-Phil Tomasino
Boko Imama-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
P.O Joseph-Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-Vincent Desharnais
So that leaves Jesse Puljujarvi, Matt Nieto and Ryan Shea as the healthy scratches.
• Andrew Brunette's combos:
Filip Forsberg-Steven Stamkos-Jon Marchessault
Luke Evangelista-Ryan O'Reilly-Gustav Nyquist
Tommy Novak-Fedor Svechkov-Zach L'Heureux
Cole Smith-Michael McCarron-Colton Sissons
Roman Josi-Luke Schenn
Brady Skjei-Nick Blankenburg
Adam Wilsby-Justin Barron
• The Penguins emerge next, and they've got Danton Heinen wearing his familiar No. 43 and Vincent Desharnais wearing No. 7. Looks like they'll play.
• And there, finally, we know Nashville's goaltender tonight, as Juuse Saros leads the Predators out for warmups. He'd been sick, prompting the recall of (a different) Matt Murray, but he's apparently good to go here.
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