Sidney Crosby scored twice and Rickard Rakell and Marcus Pettersson had two assists apiece to back a solid effort from goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic as the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins topped the slumping Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday.
The return of rookie leading scorer Connor Bedard couldn’t propel the Blackhawks, who lost their season-worst eighth straight game.
Chicago has been outscored 26-9 during the skid.
Crosby put the Blackhawks at a deficit by scoring just 15 seconds into the game. After winning the opening faceoff from Bedard, Crosby darted down the ice and redirected a Pettersson shot past Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom.
The goal marked the ninth time Crosby has scored within the first 30 seconds of a game in his career, surpassing Bob Gainey for the most in league history.
It was also Crosby’s 406th career even-strength goal … giving him one more than Mario Lemieux to become the franchise’s career leader.
Reilly Smith gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead just more than 12 minutes later. Drew O’Connor broke up a Chicago pass, skated down the left side and dropped the puck for Smith, who guided a backhand over Soderblom.
Crosby nearly extended the Pittsburgh advantage to three goals midway through the second period, but his quick-release backhand hit the far post.
Chicago’s Philipp Kurashev scored soon after. After the Blackhawks stifled a Penguins clearing attempt, Bedard skated through the middle and found a waiting Kurashev.
Bedard, the top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and Chicago’s leading scorer, returned a touch ahead of schedule after missing the past 14 games with a fractured jaw he suffered during a Jan. 5 loss in New Jersey.
Pittsburgh went up 3-1 at 5:51 of the third. Rakell gathered a Pettersson rebound and passed to Crosby at the side of the net. He then tallied his 30th goal of the season.
It’s Crosby’s 12th career season with at least 30 goals, tied for the 11th most in NHL history.
Bryan Rust provided the final margin in the final minute with a short-handed, empty-net goal.
Nedeljkovic stopped 27 shots, while Soderblom stopped 23.
The Blackhawks went 0-for-2 on the power play compared to 0-for-1 for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh was without forward Jake Guentzel, who is expected to miss the next four weeks with an upper-body injury he sustained during the third period of Wednesday’s home loss to the Florida Panthers.
–Field Level Media
