The Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed the San Jose Sharks to PPG Paints Arena in a battle of two teams in the bottom six of the NHL standings. The Penguins were 3-5-2 over their previous 10 games with their last game coming as a 6-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road just 24 hours earlier. The Sharks looked better in their previous 10 games coming into this matchup with a 5-4-1 record. They came in off a tough 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Game Recap
A fast start is what the Penguins needed in this game, and they were able to get that. Bryan Rust opened the scoring just over a minute into the game to get the scoring started. Using that momentum, the Penguins kept the pressure on, peppering Vitek Vanecek with high-quality shots. He stood tall making the saves, even some from his back. Evgeni Malkin thought he had the game’s second goal, but a coach’s challenge by the Sharks was successful with the play determined to be offside. Despite that, the Penguins got it right back to make it 2-0 at 6:34 on a Jesse Puljujarvi rebound goal. With his first career point, Owen Pickering became the 16th defenseman in Penguins history to record a point in his NHL debut.
Needing a response, the Sharks found a way to keep the Penguins hemmed in their own zone for just under a minute straight. With tired players on the ice, the Sharks’ movement gave them plenty of opportunities, but Alex Nedeljkovic kept the Sharks off the scoresheet with saves on two high-quality chances. With just over five minutes to go in the period, the Penguins’ odd-man rush struggles continued as the Sharks had a great 3-on-1 chance. Nedeljkovic bailed his teammates out, making a strong right-to-left push to deny Klim Kostin of a goal. Both goaltenders were stellar in the first as shots were 10 a piece.
Heading into the second period, a change was made in the Sharks net with Mackenzie Blackwood coming on for Vanecek, who seemingly was injured in the first. Though it was a slow start for both squads early in the middle frame, Sidney Crosby woke his team up with his team-leading seventh of the season and goal No. 599 of his career. It took the Sharks nearly eight minutes to generate pressure in the Penguins’ zone. However, nothing came of it, as Pittsburgh’s defense was tremendous.
On a delay of game penalty to the Penguins’ Vasily Ponomarev, the Sharks made them pay as Tyler Toffoli made it a 3-1 game at 12:05. On the back of their power-play goal, momentum and an almost costly turnover behind the net by Nedeljkovic allowed the Sharks a great chance to bring the game to within one. The Penguins’ defensive play helped out their stranded netminder to keep their 3-1 lead intact heading into the intermission.
Down by two, the Sharks needed something to get going and make it a game. Mikael Granlund gave them that as he made it a 3-2 game at 13:04 on their fourth shot of the period. The third-period woes for the Penguins came to fruition at 11:40 of the third. Toffoli notched his second goal of the night, and eighth goal of the season, to tie Granlund for the team lead. At 12:15, Blackwood came up with a huge save with the blocker to rob Rickard Rakell of an empty-net goal to keep the game tied. The Penguins saw themselves going to overtime for the second time in three games.
In an action-packed overtime, Crosby had the best chance to end it. Receiving a perfect pass, he riffled a one-time shot from a tough angle to an empty side of the net. Blackwood stretched his left pad and glove out to rob Crosby of the game-winning goal. Blackwood was the star of overtime, making multiple big saves that easily could have been goals. Total control from the Penguins could not get the job done, and a shootout was needed.
After blowing a 3-0 lead, the Penguins ended it in a shootout. Granlund and William Eklund scored the two shootout goals for the Sharks. Crosby and Anthony Beauvillier matched the Sharks with Malkin winning it.
With the win, the Penguins move to 7-10-3 on the season. Meanwhile, the Sharks fall to 5-10-4.
The Penguins will have a couple of days off to recover. They will next welcome Jake Guentzel and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Sharks will head back to San Jose, where they will face the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.
