CHICAGO (AP) Sidney Crosby scored twice, Reilly Smith and Bryan Rust added goals, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Penguins had lost to Minnesota, Winnipeg and Florida in succession, but controlled their third road game in four starts from the outset. With the victory, Pittsburgh moved past Washington and into sixth place in the Metropolitan Division. The Blackhawks, last in the NHL, dropped their eighth straight game (0-7-1).
āWe generated some good chances,ā Crosby said. āWhen it was two-nothing in the second, I thought we could have built on it. Had some really good looks, and a post. We can build off this. We need the points.ā
Blackhawks star rookie Connor Bedard had an assist in his return a 14-game absence because of a broken jaw. After a sluggish first period, he set up Phillipp Kurashev with a nifty pass through traffic midway through the second. Kurashev dumped it past sprawling goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. That drew the largest roar of the night from the United Center crowd of 19,423 for this yearās top draft pick.
Bedard lost the gameās opening face-off to Crosby, then lost contact with the veteran center, who deflected Marcus Petterssonās fluttering pass over the left shoulder of Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom 15 seconds in.
āI thought it was a huge start for us,ā Peterson said. āI thought we were a little anxious yesterday to make some plays in the first. Weāre going to be in a dogfight, so letās start with this one.ā
Smith made it 2-1 at 12:40 of the first, beating Soderblom with a wrist shot on the glove side after scooting past Bedard.
āObviously a tough start for a couple,ā Bedard said. āI wanted to come back earlier, but youāve got to be safe and smart. They told me I was ready to go today, and so I was excited.
āIāve been skating four weeks now and felt confident coming in.ā
Crosby was left alone on the goal line to the right of the net for his second goal 5:51 into the third period. Chicago defensemen Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic never got close to him. Itās the 12th time Crosby has scored at least 30 goals in a season.
āI thought our guys stepped up,ā Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. āSid, it looked like he was trying to will it for us. He was locked in from the very first shift, strong on pucks all night.ā
Rust scored from 190 feet into an empty net with 50 seconds remaining.
Nedeljkovic made 27 saves. Soderblom had 23.
Bedardās assist moved him a point ahead of Minnesotaās Brock Faber in the rookie scoring race, 34-33.
āHe looked pretty good for coming off an extended time,ā Crosby said. āThere are times he doesnāt get a lot of room and makes something out of nothing.ā
Pittsburgh placed forward Jake Guentzel on injured reserve because of an upper-body injury on Thursday, recalling three players to fill his and other roster gaps. Vinnie Hinostroza, Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden were called up. Guentzel, who was tied in points with Crosby before the game, is expected to miss four weeks, out of action past the March 8 trading deadline.
In addition to Bedard, the Blackhawks brought defenseman Jarred Tinordi off injured reserve.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Host Los Angeles on Sunday.
Blackhawks: Host Ottawa on Saturday.
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