FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Penguins - Game 19

In his return from injury, goalie Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 37 shots, helping to the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 3-0 shutout victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

Nedeljkovic recorded his first shutout of the season and the eighth of his career, marking his first since 2022, during his time with the Detroit Red Wings.

Ryan Graves and Noel Acciari each got their first goals of the season and their first with Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin added a late empty-net goal to put a cap on the scoring. Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel extended his point streak to eight games, providing an assist on the goal, as Pittsburgh halted a brief two-game skid.

The extended point streaks of Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson came to an end. Crosby’s 11-game streak, the third-longest active in the league, concluded, while Karlsson’s eight-game streak, the longest among NHL defensemen, also ended. Crosby experienced two point-less games in the 17 games played that season.

Nedeljkovic, returning from a ten-game absence due to a lower-body injury, was activated off long-term injured reserve on Sunday. During a conditioning stint with the Penguins‘ American Hockey League affiliate on Friday, he even scored a goal, marking his second career goal.

Adin Hill made 30 saves for the Golden Knights, who started the season 11-0-1 but faced a setback with five losses in seven games since.

In their fourth game of a season-long five-game road trip on Sunday, the Golden Knights navigated through a stretch where eight of nine games were played on the road.

“I thought we had chances,” Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said. “Just didn’t finish any of them. We’ve got to find a way to score goals.”

Pittsburgh’s Graves initiated the scoring at 2:13 of the first period, continuing the trend of the Penguins scoring the first goal in 14 of their 17 games, ranking them tops in the NHL.

Acciari extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-0 at 11:39 of the second period. Hill, stationed on the opposite post, found himself in an unfortunate position when Alec Martinez, his defenseman, mistakenly sent a pass in front to Acciari, who capitalized and scored for Pittsburgh.