Sidney Crosby steals the show as Penguins win in overtime: Yohe's 10 observations

SALT LAKE CITY Thousands of fans wearing black and gold showed up Wednesday at the Delta Center to see whats left of the once mighty Penguins play in Utah for the first time.

Sidney Crosby did not disappoint.

The Pittsburgh captain scored a spectacular overtime goal to give his reeling team a 3-2 victory against the Utah Hockey Club .

Advertisement Classic Sid, Erik Karlsson said.

Indeed it was.

Crosby, fresh off the bench, swooped down the left wing, took the puck from Cody Glass and beat goaltender Connor Ingram with a backhand shot that has become a staple of Crosbys legendary career.

BACKHAND KING pic.twitter.com/F2j63j2Iws Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 30, 2025 Karlsson, who endured a brutal first two periods, evened the game in the third.

Marcus Pettersson became the first player in Penguins history to score a goal in Utah.

Alex Nedeljkovic was probably the Penguins best player, stopping 27 of 29 offerings, many of them Grade-A looks.

It probably wasnt the prettiest game, Karlsson said.

But we just needed to get a win.

We kept fighting.

The Penguins were sluggish at times in the first and second periods but seemed to improve as the game went on.

Mikhail Sergachev and Michael Carcone scored for Utah.

The Penguins will fly home from Salt Lake City on Thursday morning, two weeks after they last touched ground in Pittsburgh.

Up next is a home game Saturday against the Nashville Predators .

The Penguins, somewhat remarkably after the past week, are only 5 points out of a playoff spot as they head home.

That number, though, is misleading because they have played more games than every other team in the wild-card race.

This finished off a 3-4 road trip, one that started with so much promise before a three-game losing streak against three of the leagues worst teams in Anaheim, Seattle and San Jose.

Crosby, however, delivered when his team most needed him.

The Penguins captain has a goal in three straight games and has scored in four of his past five outings.

He has 16 goals and 55 points in 53 games this season.

He has the ability to elevate his game when the stakes are high, Mike Sullivan said.

Thats when hes at his best.

Hes done it forever.

I cant say it surprises me.

But certainly its impressive.

Advertisement Ten postgame observations Sometimes, I think its important for everyones sanity to ignore the standings for a moment and just look for little things that can be pleasant even when a team is mired in a spiral like this.

Crosby and the Penguins had never played in Utah before.

A legion of Penguins fans, some of whom had never seen Crosby play in person, were on hand for this game.

And he finished it with one of the more spectacular goals youll see, the 608th of his storied career.

This team isnt going to make the playoffs.

Its probably not going to be involved in many meaningful games the remainder of the season, barring a miracle.

But there are still moments like this that are worth appreciating.

Through all the Penguins recent struggles, Crosby is still busting his tail every night and is starting to heat up in the goal-scoring department.

For the people in Utah who witnessed this one, its a moment theyll remember for a long time.

I didnt think the Penguins were all that great in this game, to be frank.

That said, they werent terrible, and I actually liked their third period quite a bit.

Still, the defensive zone coverage continued to be terrible.

I cant say I was puzzled by it because its something that we see pretty much every game with this team.

Utah enjoyed plenty of stellar looks, and the Penguins really defended the slot poorly most of the night.

So, I dont think the Penguins executed all that well.

However, they worked extremely hard in the third period.

Their fight while trailing in the third period hasnt been great on this trip, but it was present in this game.

Nedeljkovic was outstanding.

He was there all night when we needed him to make a big save, Karlsson said.

Really good.

Nedeljkovic was very sharp from the outset.

He had never played in this building but explained that he felt pretty comfortable with the sight lines, and it showed.

Advertisement This was one of his better outings of the season.

Even though Utah was producing plenty of good looks, Nedeljkovic was quite aggressive and read the play exceptionally well.

Really nice performance from him, and Id expect him to receive the bulk of the starts between now and the 4 Nations Face-Off break in 10 days.

The Erik Karlsson Experience was in rare form in this game.

He lost track of Carcone in the second period, allowing him to beat Nedeljkovic on the second crack after a breakaway.

NO QUIT IN CARCONE!! 2-1, UTAH! pic.twitter.com/4Uc6vsKZ3t Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) January 30, 2025 At the conclusion of the first period, he coughed up a puck in gruesome fashion in front of the net, nearly resulting in another Utah goal.

Karlsson simply seemed off all game, his decision-making even causing him to look to the heavens on a few occasions.

Then, in classic Karlsson fashion, he skated down the right wing and buried a gorgeous short-side shot over Ingrams shoulderr.

Erik Karlsson ties this game up : @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T pic.twitter.com/fDIjingrfz NHL (@NHL) January 30, 2025 I asked Karlsson about his thought process on the goal.

Hes even entertaining when you discuss things of this nature with him.

I probably could have passed it to Jesse (Puljujarvi) there, Karlsson said.

But I have four goals on the year.

I have to start scoring some goals.

I dont get down there too often anymore.

So I decided to take my opportunity.

Well, now he has five goals on the year.

Good luck finding a more interesting player with more interesting things to say than Karlsson.

Pettersson scored on a slap shot from the point to even the score in the second period.

THE DRAGON pic.twitter.com/9kyCK5ct9D Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 30, 2025 I dont think hes himself these days.

The trade rumors are getting to him a bit, if I had to guess.

But this was one of his stronger games of the season.

Karlsson looked exhausted after the game, and he told me that dealing with the elevation in Utah was significant.

I spoke with Crosby about this and his eyes got big when I asked about the elevation.

Yes, he said, he was pretty exhausted, as well.

Even though the elevation in Salt Lake City is about 1,000 feet less than Denver, Crosby said it felt the same.

Advertisement Karlsson added: Of course, we havent been home in two weeks.

Maybe that made us feel a little tired, too.

I am convinced that quick line changes are truly the key to success in three-on-three overtime.

Maybe more than anything else, especially when elevation is an issue.

Crosby kept his shifts short in overtime, and so did Rickard Rakell , who wisely went to the bench just in time to release a fresh Crosby from the bench on the game winner.

Little things like that go a long way.

West Mifflins Logan Cooley had an assist and was one of the games best players.

Hes special.

I anticipate him becoming a legitimate star in this league within the next couple of years.

I write an article every summer ranking the best road trips for Penguins fans to take.

Obviously, Salt Lake City will be included in my next installment.

I suspect it will rank fairly high on the list, probably just outside of the top 10.

Strongly recommended.

Beautiful, friendly city.

Direct flights from Pittsburgh.

I give it a thumbs-up.

It was a really cool experience, and the fans in Utah are really into this team.

It was a playoff atmosphere.

So, where do the Penguins go from here? I cant imagine many more wins are on the way for the Penguins this season.

Kyle Dubas is going to sell sooner rather than later and, even though they mustered 2 points, its difficult to be real complimentary of this team.

I just see a lot of bad things every game and, when Crosby isnt on the ice, this team is creating a frightening lack of offense.

Id expect the Penguins to continue funneling down in the standings.

There are just too many red flags to think otherwise.

For a night, however, Crosby showed up in Utah and put on a show.

(Photo: Rob Gray / Imagn Images).

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