Sidney Crosby is well educated on winning.
He has a trio of Stanley Cup rings stowed away in a sock drawer or a fireproof safe with a biometric lock to verify that postulate.
So, he understands why the Pittsburgh Penguins are winning as of late.
“You need everybody contributing,” Crosby said Tuesday in Cranberry. “Everyone feeling a part of it to have success. We have a lot of different guys that have chipped in at different points, and you need to continue that to be consistent.”
They remained consistent in that pursuit Thursday with an emphatic 6-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at PPG Paints Arena. The result extended their winning streak to five games.
Even with the top line and the power play — each of which was missing the services of a suspended Bryan Rust — being blanked, the Penguins had 10 players generate a point Thursday.
“I mean, that’s a massive part of why we’re winning,” said forward Anthony Mantha, who paced the bunch with three points Thursday. “Everyone in the (offensive) zone is kind of creating chances and getting the puck behind their goalie.”
Not many shots were put on the Penguins’ goaltender as rookie Arturs Silovs stopped 18 of 20 shots and lifted his record to 10-6-8.
“It’s all about effort,” Silovs said of the team’s overall defensive game. “Then I think it’s about a mindset of competing. When the guys have it, we’re playing our best. When you don’t have it, then you don’t play as good. Bringing it every night is important. We just want to keep it going.”
Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy got the scoring going 9:32 into regulation with his third goal of the season.
Stealing a puck in his own slot, Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar led a rush through the neutral zone and gained the offensive blue line at the center point before offloading a pass to the left wing for rookie forward Ryan Greene. Holding the puck for a moment on the left half-wall, Greene dished a pass to the high slot for an onrushing Murphy, who snapped a wrister past the left shoulder of Silovs, who stumbled as Penguins defenseman Kris Letang bumped into him. Greene and Nazar had assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
The hosts tied the game 112 seconds later via a determined shift by their buzzsaw of a fourth line — and perhaps some charity from the officials — that resulted in forward Connor Dewar’s 12th goal, a new career high.
Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic controlled a puck on his own end boards near the right corner but fell to the ice after Penguins forward Blake Lizotte jabbed his stick into Vlasic’s right skate. That allowed Dewar to take possession of the puck on the wall and deal a pass to the lower right circle, where linemate Noel Acciari immediately fired a wrister that was rejected by goaltender Arvid Soderblom’s left leg. Dewar claimed the rebound to the right of the crease, fought his way towards the lower hashmarks and whipped a wrister past Soderblom’s right skate. Vlasic appeared to protest the lack of a tripping call against Lizotte, but did not find a receptive audience. Acciari and Lizotte logged assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
Penguins rookie Ben Kindel supplied his team with its first lead of the contest by scoring his 11th goal at 5:54 of the second period.
Following a strong effort by Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to maintain puck possession in Chicago’s slot, Mantha took control on the right half-wall and slipped a pass to Kindel. Advancing from the high slot to the left circle, Kindel lasered a wrister through Soderblom’s five hole. Assists were merited by Mantha and Wotherspoon.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
Kindel has pieced together a modest two-game goal-scoring streak after enduring a 19-game skid without a goal.
“There’s so much (more) to the game than scoring,” Kindel said. “Even when you are scoring, you still need to keep up with those things, all the little details in the game.”
Another contribution by Wotherspoon led to Penguins forward Egor Chinakhov’s ninth goal at 15:30 of the middle frame.
Blackhawks forward Tyler Bertuzzi attempted a spinning wrister from the Penguins’ right point only to be flattened on the sequence by Wotherspoon. That allowed Evgeni Malkin to pick up the errant puck and initiate an offensive rush, gaining Chicago’s zone on the left wing. Spinning off a check from Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, Malkin fed a flamboyant backhand pass to the center point for a trailing Chinakhov. Veering a bit to the right circle, Chinakhov dangled past a sluggish poke check by Blackhawks rookie defenseman Artyom Levshunov and attacked the net, pushing a forehand shot through Soderblom’s five hole. Malkin claimed the only assist.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
Mantha scored his 17th goal on a breakaway off a perfectly executed timing sequence to put the Penguins up by a field goal only 31 seconds later.
Settling a bouncing puck in his own left circle, Mantha initiated a designed scheme by retreating behind the cage and snapping a pass to the right point for linemate Rutger McGroarty. As planned, McGroarty one-touched back toward the opposite corner for defenseman Ryan Shea, who then banked the puck up ice off the near boards to Kindel in front of the home bench. Allowing things to develop for a moment, Kindel chipped a pass to Chicago’s center point for Mantha, rushing up ice like a locomotive. Approaching the crease, he slipped an adroit backhander through the five hole of a distressed Soderblom. Kindel and Shea secured assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
“I was excited for him to pass it, because I was going offside real quick,” Mantha quipped. “If he held it an extra second, it was too late, and I was offside. So, it’s kind of a play where you see it’s kind of building up, and we’ve been in those situations as players many times. So, for him, he passed it to me in the middle for me to execute.”
Shea, a former Blackhawks prospect, got in on the act late in the second period at the 19:30 mark with his third goal, a new career high.
Digging a puck out of a goalmouth scramble, Mantha coolly fed a pass from the left of the crease to the near point for rookie defenseman Ilya Slovoyov, making his Penguins debut. Faking a one-timer for a moment, Solovyov pulled his stick down and slid the puck to the top of the right circle, where Shea cracked a one-timer, toasting Soderblom’s glove on the near side. Solovyov and Mantha had assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
Dewar struck again at 13:59 of the third period off the efforts of his linemates.
Gaining the offensive blue line on the right wing, Lizotte forced a pass to the opposite hashmarks intended for Dewar, only to have it broken up by Bertuzzi. Acciari was able to settle the puck in the slot and shuffled a backhander on the cage, which Soderblom kicked away with his right leg. After Acciari tried to jam in the rebound only to be denied by Soderblom again, another rebound slid to the left of the crease where Dewar was able to clean it up with a wrister over Soderblom’s right calf. Acciari and Lizotte logged assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard capped the scoring at 14:31 of the third period with his 21st goal.
From Chicago’s right point, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang forced a cross-ice pass that was broken up by Nazar. That allowed Bedard to take possession and rush up ice. Surging into the offensive zone on the right wing, Bedard slowed down in the near circle, allowed Penguins defenseman Brett Kulak to slide down to the ice and out of the way, then sniped a wrister past Silovs’ glove on the near side. Nazar had the only assist.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) January 30, 2026
Beating one of the NHL’s worst teams — the Blackhawks (21-24-9) entered the day in 27th place of the league’s overall standings — is hardly a reason to begin measuring ring sizes.
But the way this win was achieved was largely consistent with what has made this team a contender, at least in terms of simply qualifying for the playoffs.
That’s to say just about everyone offered something Thursday.
“You want those contributions from throughout, and I think guys have shown that,” coach Dan Muse said. “I think guys have found a way to make contributions on both ends and we want to be seeing that. It was really good there tonight.
“All the lines were getting involved.”
Notes:
• Solovyov, acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 20, logged 16:51 of ice time (including 55 seconds on the penalty kill) on 19 shifts in his Penguins debut. In addition to an assist, he recorded three shot attempts and one blocked shot.
• Solovyov became the third native of Belarus to play for the Penguins. He was preceded by forward Konstantin Kolotsov and defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok.
• Solovyov became the 21st player to wear No. 7 in a game of consequence for the Penguins. His predecessors (via PittsburghHockey.net):
Art Stratton, Lou Angotti, Bryan Hextall, Steve Durbano, Russ Anderson, Rick MacLeish, lan Turnbull, Rod Buskas, Joe Mullen, Andrew Ference, Kelly Buchberger, Matt Hussey, Michel Ouellet, Mark Eaton, Paul Martin, Matt Cullen, Colton Sceviour, Dmitry Kulikov, John Ludvig, Vincent Desharnais
• Shea was a fourth-round draft pick (No. 121) of the Blackhawks in 2015 but never signed with that team. This season, he has five points (one goal, four assists) in two games against the Blackhawks.
• Shea set his new career high in goals in 52 games this season. His previous high-water mark of two goals was established in 39 games last season.
• Dewar set his new career high for goals in 52 games this season. His previous best of 11 goals was set in 74 games during the 2023-24 season while skating for the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs.
• Coupled with a 7-3 road win Dec. 28, the Penguins have outscored the Blackhawks 13-5 in their two entanglements this season.
• Since joining the Penguins in a trade on Dec. 29, Chinakhov has eight points (six goals, two assists) in 14 games. Before the trade, he had six points (three goals, three assists) in 29 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
• Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton and forward Kevin Hayes were healthy scratches.
• Former Penguins forward Sam Lafferty, a native of Hollidaysburg, was a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks.
