Alex Nedeljkovic slams the door on the Nashville Predators in a 3-0 Penguins win.
Nedeljkovic made 25 saves in the win. It's his second career shutout with the Penguins.
"I'm happy for Ned that he got the shutout," said coach Mike Sullivan. "He's playing well for us right now. He's seeing it, he's a fierce competitor. It doesn't surprise me that he deflects some of the accolades. I do think it was a complete effort by the whole group, but Ned is every bit a big part of that."
After the Penguins power play expired in the first period, Philip Tomasino got them on the board with his 6th goal of the year. Sidney Crosby scored his 17th goal on the season in the second period to give the Pens a 2-0 lead. It's the 4th straight game for Crosby with a goal. Bryan Rust scored his 20th goal of the year on an empty netter.
Rust has now scored 20 or more goals in six straight seasons. He is in 8th place on the Penguins all-time list for 20 goal seasons. Crosby is in first with 16 and he will make it 17 with three more goals this year.
Alex Nedeljkovic not only got his second career shutout with the Penguins, but it's the first shutout from any Penguins goaltender this season.
"I thought we defended hard for most of the night, we had numbers back most of the time, we played the game hard, I thought we made it a hard game for Nasvhille," said Sullivan. "They have good players and they got some looks, when they got them Ned was there to make the save for us. It's a huge game for Ned and a huge game for our team."
Sullivan said after the game that this was an emotional day for the team, after the trades that were made Friday night.
"I thought they all did a really good job of keeping the focus on the game and staying in the moment," said Sullivan. "That was something that we talked about, just trying to play the game the right way, pay attention to detail, take what the game gives you out there, trust your instincts, play with energy. I thought the guys did a great job."