Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby discusses the honor of captaining Team Canada for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off After a grueling seven-game road trip through the Western Conference, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned home with a contest against the Nashville Predators. Despite their All-Star caliber lineup, the visitors posed no threat to the Penguins, who picked up a much-needed 3-0 win [https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nsh-vs-pit/2025/02/01/2024020830]. The Penguins have now won two in a row after dropping three. They remain in a difficult fight for a wildcard spot, but the opportunities are there to keep climbing. NEDELJKOVIC SHUTS THE DOOR Alex Nedeljkovic has had an eventful two weeks, scoring a goal, picking up an assist, and pitching a shutout. He turned away 25 shots on Saturday night for his first shutout of the season, which also happened to be the Penguins' first one of the season, in game 54. Since Pittsburgh sent Tristan Jarry to the minors and handed the crease to Nedeljkovic, he's responded with a 4-2-0 record with a .940 SV% and only 11 goals against. Although his overall numbers need to improve—3.02 GAA and .899 SV%—he's giving the Penguins the best chance to win games every night and will be a key player to watch down the stretch as the club pushes for a playoff spot. CROSBY IS GOING TO WILL THE PENGUINS TO THE FINISH LINE Captain Sidney Crosby has goals in four straight games, including Wednesday's overtime winner against the Utah Hockey Club. It's the first time since 2022 that the Penguins leader had goals in four games. Earlier in the year, when Pittsburgh had a rough start, Crosby wasn't producing at a point-per-game average and was running the risk of missing out on establishing a new NHL record for consecutive years with a point-per-game average. During the first 27 games, the Penguins were 11-12-4, and Crosby scored only eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points. That's a .96 point-per-game pace, slightly under his career 1.24 average. Surprisingly, Pittsburgh has also been 11-12-4 in their past 27 games, but Crosby has a much different stat line, including nine goals, 22 assists, and 31 points, bumping up his point-per-game average up to 1.14. As expected, he's leading the Penguins in scoring with 57 points in 54 games (1.05) and will guide the offensive attack over the season's final three months. He hopes to return to the postseason for the first time since 2022. NEW GUYS IMMEDIATELY HELP THE CAUSE Late on Friday night, the Penguins acquired Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais from the Vancouver Canucks. Although neither found their way onto the scoresheet, they contributed to the Penguins' big win. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsGHFgDXWds[/embed] Heinen, now on his second tour of duty with the Penguins, skated 12:42 over 17 shifts and had three shots on goals. He also brought the physicality with two hits, one of six forwards with more than one hit in the contest. Meanwhile, Desharnais skated 16:17 and led the team with four blocked shots while dishing out two hits, one of two Penguins defenders with a hit in the game. Additionally, he was one of three players without a shot, but his job is to prevent goals, not score them with only one career tally. Considering these two arrived in Pittsburgh on the same day as their Penguins debut, there will be an adjustment period, but in their first games, they helped the cause and didn't do much to take away from the Penguins' big win on Saturday night. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjEyMTYyNzc0NjIzNTk0MDE5/thnpitnews.png]
