The Sharks squared off with the worst team in
the Eastern Conference in the Pittsburgh Penguins at SAP Center on Wednesday
night. San Jose struggled for 50 minutes against the Penguins backup goaltender
in Sergei Murashov before Macklin Celebrini went to work. The Sharks captain
helped San Jose claw back from a 2-0 deficit in the 3rd period but San Jose
would run out of luck in the shootout where Pittsburgh would prevail.
More teams are starting to use the Sharks as an opportunity to get their
secondary goaltending option some playing time as was the case in the 3-2
shootout loss. Pittsburgh went with their number 2 in Murashov who had won 1
game all season.
The Penguins netminder made 34 saves, out-dueling
Yaroslav Askarov who responded with 33 saves of his own.
Answering the
bell late and poor special teams play continues to cost San Jose. The offense
was stymied all night and the special teams continued to misfire. San Jose was
0-for-5 on the power play and they allowed their 10th power play goal in the
last 5 games.
Giving up the game's goal has been too commonplace for
San Jose this season and Wednesday night would be no different. The Sharks
killed a Jacob Trouba tripping penalty which ended at 8:46, but they could not
stop the 2nd power play line which remained on the ice. Samuel Girard pumped a
shot from the slot that hit Yaroslav Askarov in the right shoulder, but the
momentum carried it forward into the net at 8:57.
San Jose continued
on in the period with a constant set of 1 or 2 passes followed by a turnover,
never ever establishing any real pressure on Murashov. The Russian netminder
faced 12 shots in the opening period but nothing really challenged him.
A Ben Kindel interference penalty 1:30 into the 2nd period setup the
Sharks 2nd power play opportunity of the night. Will Smith narrowly missed,
banking a shot off Murashov's mask and crossbar denied San Jose.
Girard was sent off for holding Ty Dellandrea at the 9:00 minute mark. Ivar
Stenberg appeared to deflect a puck into the net with his chest, but the goal
was immediately waved off by referee Kyle Rehman. It went to video replay which
resulted in a disallowed goal.
San Jose out-shot the Penguins 10-6 in
the middle period but Pittsburgh turned the offense to 11 in the final 2
minutes, blitzing Askarov and the Sharks net. The sharks goaltender was able to
fend off the push, but it left a bad taste with the Sharks struggling to
generate any form of scoring.
Zack Ostapchuk took an ill-advised
holding penalty 2:56 into the 3rd period when the Sharks needed to be working
to equalize on the scoreboard. The penalty turned into a back breaker when
Kindel scored 32 seconds into the power play.
Macklin Celebrini finally got the Sharks on the
board when he scored with 8:28 left in regulation. The Sharks captain gathered
a Michael Kesselring feed while parked in the slot, before making pump faking a
shot and then snapping a shot past Murashov.
Celebrini then setup
Mason Marchment with the equalizer 4:17 later. The Sharks captain saw his
teammate parked on the left post, so he sent a bullet pass from the right wing
boards right to Marchment's stick for the easy tap in.
In the overtime
Sam Dickinson missed on a breakaway chance, then the Sharks had a brief power
play when Kris Letang was called for holding the stick. That man advantage
would end as the previous 4 did, with no conversion.
In the shootout
Kindel went first and buried his chance.
Sharks head coach Ryan
Warsofsky continues to go against the flow and elected to have his team shoot
second. The results were the perfect example of why most home teams elect to
shoot first. Score a goal in the skills competition and it places all the
pressure on the opposition to counter it.
San Jose couldn't do that.
Warsofsky sent Celebrini, Ivar Stenberg and Will Smith to take shots, and all
three uninspiring attempts. All three went to wrist shots from distance rather
than forcing Murashov to move his feet and open up more shooting options.
The Penguins netminder easily denied all three to earn his 2nd with of
the season and hand the Sharks their 1st loss beyond regulation this season.
Game Notes: * Macklin Celebrini recorded his 200th
career point, which makes him the 5th youngest in NHL history to achieve that
mark.
* Mason Marchement recorded his 100th career NHL goal with his
3rd period tally.
* Sydney Crosby recorded a game high 7 shots on goal
in the game. Crosby was held scoreless and was a -1, but he did win 14 of 24
draws for a 58 win percentage.
* Every Sharks forwarded recorded a
shot on goal in the contest except for Michael Misa who was moved off the top
line late in the game. Ivar Stenberg joined Celebrini and Will Smith in the 3rd
period.
* San Jose continues to struggle in the faceoff circle. They
were a combined 28 for 66 for a 42% win percentage.
