Penguins Leave Stockholm with Three of Four Points

After the puck dropped for the second and final game of the 2025 Global Series between Pittsburgh and Nashville in Stockholm, it took all of two minutes and 19 seconds for the Penguins to get on the board with a goal from Parker Wotherspoon.

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby followed that up with goals of their own, much to the excitement of the nearly 13,000 who packed Avicii Arena to see the future Hall of Famers and two of the best to ever do it.

“Probably 99% of the people in this building idolized Geno and Sid. Like, even myself,” Sweden native Rickard Rakell said yesterday.

The Penguins went into the first intermission with that 3-0 lead and an 11-2 edge in shots. After letting Nashville tie the first matchup late in regulation before Steven Stamkos won it in overtime, the Penguins were determined to bounce back. They ended up with a 4-0 win, taking three of four points back to Pittsburgh.

“I don't think as a group we performed the way that we wanted to (on Friday),” Erik Karlsson said. “I think everybody felt that. Our first period was huge, being able to capitalize on a few chances and get an early lead. And I think for the rest of the game, we did a good job at managing the situations out there.”

They had a fairly short practice on Saturday, getting the blood flow going and ramping up the intensity as quick as possible. “And now, it's going to be to get some rest, whatever treatment you need, or a little bike ride,” Kris Letang said. “So, I think that's the way to do it. Jet lag is pretty tough to adjust, but try the best you can to get some sleep.”

They looked much more rested and ready to go on Sunday, putting on a much better show for the people who were thrilled for the opportunity to see them play live, many for the first time.

“I thought it showed with the way we played. And it doesn't always work out that you get three, even if you have a good start,” Crosby said. “So, that was big, and obviously our penalty kill was big there in the second. But that start was huge.”

Here’s what Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse had to say after the game before the team got on a flight back to Sweden:

On Malkin and Crosby coming through with goals: “Yeah, yeah. But also, I really liked our first period. I liked the way we came out. Obviously, those guys are a huge part of that there with the goals. But I also think the way the team played in the first period, we were really happy with that. That's the way we needed to come out. And so, that's a credit to those guys. That's a credit to our leadership, too, making sure that the group is ready to go and that they were going to be able to make sure we're coming out, just to set the tone there. And I thought they did that with the first period.”

Closing out games have been a little bit of a problem over the last week. What did you think of your team's performance in the second and third periods today? “The second period. I mean, we were on the kill a lot. So, credit for those guys. They did a really good job. That can be tough too, for the guys that don't kill penalties. Because now you're sitting and you're waiting. And so I thought, given those circumstances, the guys did a good job... the guys that needed to go out there and kill the penalty did an outstanding job. Sergei made some big saves. And then for the guys, too, just being able to try to get back into the game there, I thought they did a good job with that. It was a different type of period, though, Like, when you're killing that much, especially you get those two kills pretty close to each other there, one of them we had to go 3-on-5, it makes for a little bit of a different period and a little bit of a different feel. But overall, I thought the guys did a good job with it. And then we made some saves there in the third period, which we got. Not as much sustained time there as in the first period. But I thought overall there, the guys did a good job in terms of getting the job done.”

On the line changes: “We looked at some things. For different reasons, felt like we need to generate a little bit more there 5-on-5. So, it was something coming off that last game, we wanted to try some different combinations. So, that's the reason for the changes.”