Rust’s overtime goal lifts Penguins to 3-2 win over Blues
Feb 25, 2023, 1:31 AM | Updated: 4:23 pm
Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Bryan Rust (17) controls the puck as St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk (72) skates in during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Le)
(AP Photo/Jeff Le)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Bryan Rust scored the winning goal 1:16 into overtime, lifting the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
“We showed a bit of resilience to get back in the game and win it, ” said Rust, who has nine points in his last four games.
Marcus Pettersson’s first goal of the season game on a wrist shot at 14:32 of the third period gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. But the Blues came back on Justin Faulk’s goal at 17:33 to tie it.
“There’s a fine line between winning and losing in this league,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It could have deflated us when they scored late in the game. Our effort was strong in the overtime.”
Evgeni Malkin also scored for Pittsburgh, and Tristan Jarry made 25 saves to improve to 5-0 in five career games against St. Louis.
“This was good. To get a win in overtime is great,” Jarry said. “To get that boost helps us. Gives us an extra point.”
Pavel Buchnevich had the other goal for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington had 46 saves, but the Blues dropped their fifth straight since the trades of Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari. The Blues have been outscored 21-8 in those losses.
“I thought that we got a good response tonight. Competitive,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “We were physical. Played hard. Just offensively, we’ve got to get more done. But overall I was pretty pleased with the effort.”
Buchnevich deflected a wrist shot from Robert Thomas just 23 seconds into the second period to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
Pittsburgh made it 1-1 on a goal by Malkin at 6:59. Rust passed to an all-alone Malkin, who snapped in the puck from the right side of the net for his 22nd goal. He has five points (three goals, two assists) in his last four games.
“He can be such a dominant player,” Sullivan said about Malkin. “He’s just so gifted offensively. He’s a horse. He’s hard to handle when he’s on top of his game. I thought he played an inspired game today.”
The Blues were outshot 21-7 in the first period. The total marked the fourth time this season a Blues goalie has made more than 20 saves in any one period.
“Yeah, I think it’s just fight until the end is kind of how I’m feeling,” Binnington said. “I think we showed some good compete tonight and played hard and stood up for our guys in certain areas, certain plays. That’s a fun game. Saturday afternoon, rink was good. It was a lot of fun.
“Obviously, you want to win and that sucks, but I think we’re competing.”
ROSTER MOVES
The Blues claimed RW Kasperi Kapanen on waivers Saturday after he was waived by Pittsburgh on Friday. He was not in St. Louis. He will join the team for Tuesday’s home game against Seattle. Kapanen was a 2014 first-round pick for Pittsburgh. He was traded to Toronto in 2015 and then traded back to Pittsburgh in 2020. … To make room for Kapanen, the Blues sent C Nikita Alexandrov to Springfield of the AHL.
NOTES: Blues D Torey Krug (lower-body injury) returned to the lineup. He missed Thursday’s game against Vancouver. He was hurt in Tuesday’s game against Carolina. … Binnington moved him into sole possession of fifth place on St. Louis’ career list for goaltenders with his 204th start. He moved past Greg Millen.
INJURIES
Penguins: C Ryan Poehling and D Mark Friedman are day to day with upper body injuries.
Blues: LW Jake Neighbours (upper body injury) is on injured reserve.
UP NEXT:
Penguins: Host Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Blues: Host Seattle on Tuesday night.
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