04/15/24 10:40:00
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04/15 22:38 CDT Crosby scores 42nd goal, Penguins keep playoff hopes alive with
4-2 win over Predators
Crosby scores 42nd goal, Penguins keep playoff hopes alive with 4-2 win over
Predators
By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) --- The Pittsburgh Penguins are playing like a playoff team.
They're only too aware it still might not be enough to reach the postseason.
Sidney Crosby scored his 42nd goal and added an assist as the Penguins
preserved their playoff hopes with a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on
Monday night.
Pittsburgh improved to 8-1-3 in its last 12 games to remain one point behind
Washington and Detroit with one game remaining in the race for the Eastern
Conference's second wild card.
The Capitals and Red Wings need to lose on Tuesday for the Penguins' regular
season finale against the New York Islanders on Wednesday to carry any meaning.
If Washington and Detroit fall in regulation or overtime, Pittsburgh can earn
the NHL's final open playoff spot by beating the Islanders, who clinched a
playoff spot on Monday.
"Obviously, we need some help but given the position we were in a few weeks ago
I think we would have taken this opportunity," said Crosby, who has 23 points
during his team's late surge. "So hopefully we get some help."
Erik Karlsson also had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, and Reilly Smith
and Emil Bemstrom also scored. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves while making his
12th straight start for Pittsburgh.
Filip Forsberg scored his franchise-record 48th goal and Gustav Nyquist added
his 23rd but playoff-bound Nashville let a chance to lock up the Western
Conference's top wild card slip away.
Juuse Saros stopped 34 shots but the Predators finished just shy of the seventh
100-point season in the franchise's 25 seasons. Vegas can pass Nashville for
the seventh seed in the West by winning its final two games against Chicago and
Anaheim later this week.
"We know we're in, but at the same time, it's about being ready," Forsberg
said. "I think the first period was not ?ready' hockey, but the second and
third were."
The Predators put themselves in the postseason thanks to a 16-0-2 stretch from
Feb. 17-March 26. Pittsburgh waited until the last possible moment to give
itself a chance to do the same.
The Penguins were nine points out of a postseason position in late March and
appeared relegated to playing out the string. Then came a push that has them
looking like the team they thought they'd be all along.
They only hope it's not too late.
"I tell you before, this team is amazing," Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin
said. "If we play like this all year, probably, we clinch the playoffs."
The Penguins came out flying during a first period that may have been among the
20 most dominant minutes by the Penguins during their wildly uneven season.
A diving Crosby slapped the puck into an open net 7:02 into the game. The
longtime Pittsburgh captain --- looking very much like he's still in his prime
at 36 --- then fed Karlsson for a one-timer with 6:10 remaining in the first.
Still, it could have been more. Twice the Penguins beat Saros only to have the
goals overturned due to goaltender interference. Officials ruled Saros had his
stick stepped on during a scramble that ended with Bunting finding the back of
the net. Letang's flick from the right circle later in the period was waved off
due to interference by Pittsburgh forward Lars Eller, who appeared to be on the
very fringe of the blue paint when Letang's shot whizzed by.
The Predators regrouped in the second to pull within one. Nyquist's 23rd
appeared to give Nashville life before Smith responded 57 seconds later to
restore Pittsburgh's two-goal advantage.
Forsberg's flick past Nedeljkovic with just 2:24 remaining before the second
intermission made it 3-2. The Penguins have had trouble closing teams out most
of the year, one of the main reasons they find themselves outside of playoff
position looking in with just three days to go.
This time, the lead held. Karlsson dished a slick cross-ice feed to Bemstrom
2:42 into the third and the Predators got no closer.
The Penguins lingered on the ice to sign jerseys for fans following their final
home game of the regular season. They're trying to stay optimistic a playoff
home date awaits next week.
"We've worked pretty hard to get ourselves in this position and get ourselves a
chance," Crosby said.
UP NEXT
Predators: The playoffs, where Nashville will try to advance past the opening
round for the first time since 2018.
Penguins: Watching TV on Tuesday hoping for good fortune before facing the
playoff-bound Islanders on Wednesday. -__
This story has been corrected to fix the Penguins' surge to 8-1-3 in their last
12 games, not 8-0-3 in their last 11.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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