Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic had himself a night to forget Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
Losers of five of their last six games entering the matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Penguins needed Nedeljkovic to step up between the pipes and halt their skid. Instead, he struggled mightily.
In about 27 minutes on the ice, Nedeljkovic stopped just 12 of the 15 shots he faced, digging the Penguins in a 3–0 hole midway through the second period. After the third goal, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan opted to yank Nedeljkovic from the game and have Joel Blomqvist take over in net.
Nedeljkovic was not happy.
Whether it was out of frustration by his performance or disapproval of his coach's decision to bench him, Nedeljkovic slammed his goalie stick on the net and ditched it on the ice before skating to the bench. Once there, he slammed the door shut so hard that it bounced back open and didn't actually close.
The Penguins pull Nedeljkovic and he is NOT happy about it 😳 pic.twitter.com/g1xZ2nXY4y
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 28, 2025
That's a rough night in the office.
Benching Nedeljkovic turned out to be a great decision for Sullivan, who watched his club storm back and tie the game at 4–4 early in the third period. The Penguins went on to win 5–4 in overtime on Evgeni Malkin's 11th goal of the year.
Nedeljkovic, in his second season with Pittsburgh, entered the night with a 12–11–5 record this season and a .893 save percentage in 28 starts this year. He has recently hit a rough patch, allowing 14 goals over his last three games.
The Penguins, who improved to 24–28–9 with the win, return to the ice Saturday to host the Boston Bruins.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Penguins Goalie Had All-Time Meltdown After Getting Pulled From Game vs. Flyers.
