In Pittsburgh, Bryan Rust scored with 25 seconds left in regulation to ge the Penguins even with the Anaheim Ducks, 3-3, on Monday night.
Jake Guentzel completed the brief rally with game0winner, 33 seconds into the extra session, for the 4-3 win.
“It’s huge,” Guentzel said. “We need two points now. They’re the same two points at the end of the year. … You just have to stay with it. That’s the only way you can do it.”
The Penguins improved to 22-15-6.
“I think for us, we’ve been getting a lot of chances,” Rust said. “We’d been pushing fairly well. How things have been going, they got a couple there in the third and instead of getting on our heels and kind of deflating, we decided to dig in. … I think we were all working for each other.”
Casey DeSmith made 26 saves in the win.
The Ducks trailed the Pens, 2-1 entering the third period, but John Klingberg and Trevor Zegras scored to give them a 3-2 lead.
“The result is the result,” Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. “I thought we played a really good road game, one of the best road games we’ve played, especially against a really hungry and veteran team. … With our team, we have to play a perfect game, where we’re at as a team.
“Obviously, in overtime, you have your chance at one end. If you don’t put it in, you know it’s coming back the other way.”
The Ducks dropped to 12-27-5.
“Not that I can think of right now,” Zegras said on if there’s anything positive in the loss. “Battled back, didn’t get the result. Not what you want.”
Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker also scored for Pittsburgh in regulation.
After Zucker staked the Pens to a 1-0 lead in the first period, Adam Henrique scored off the power play late in the opening period to tie it, 1-1.
“I think it’s a huge win for us,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought our leadership was terrific. There was a lot of talk about getting it done and responding the right way. … I really liked the response with our guys.”
Malkin scored to give the Pens a 2-1 advantage in the middle frame.
John Gibson made 41 saves in the Anaheim loss.
“It is what it is, lose the game,” Gibson said. “You can say whatever you want. But you still found a way to lose the game instead of win the game.”
There is a note of resignation in the Anaheim comments.
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