Sidney Crosby scored at 2:21 of overtime Sunday to notch his 1,400th career point as the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the visiting Nashville Predators.
Crosby, playing in his 1,100th game, tipped a feed from Rickard Rakell inside the left post. It was Crosby’s third point of the game, along with an earlier goal and an assist.
Jason Zucker also scored, and Rakell had three assists for the Penguins (42-22-10, 94 points).
Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith made 33 saves.
Matt Duchene and Nick Cousins scored for the Predators (41-26-5, 87 points), who have lost two straight.
Nashville goaltender David Rittich made 27 saves. Predators No. 1 goaltender Juuse Saros did not dress for the game because of a non-COVID-19 illness.
Crosby opened the scoring at 4:58 of the first. Off a feed from Rakell, he beat Rittich far side from the left circle.
At 18:49 of the first, Duchene tied it. He took a pinpoint stretch pass from Mikael Granlund near the right point and got a breakaway when defenseman Marcus Pettersson fell. Duchene beat DeSmith blocker side.
The Penguins were outshot in the first 11-3, with just one shot after Crosby’s goal.
At 7:54 of the second, Pittsburgh’s Mike Matheson and Nashville’s Tanner Jeannot fought after Jeannot laid out Matheson’s defense partner, Kris Letang.
As the second period ended, Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin and the Predators’ Mark Borowiecki exchanged slashes, followed by Malkin’s crosscheck that left Borowiecki bloody and missing teeth — a move that earned Malkin a double minor penalty for high sticking and possible supplemental discipline.
Borowiecki, who got a slashing penalty, did not return for the third.
The Predators didn’t score on the resulting power play to start the third, but Cousins made it 2-1 at 4:31. He intercepted a clearing attempt by Matheson and, from the slot, rifled a shot past DeSmith.
Zucker tied it 2-2 at 8:53 on a backhander from the slot off a feed from Crosby.
–Field Level Media
