1 week Ago By Field Level Media
Evgeni Malkin scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins survived losing a 3-0 lead, beating the visiting San Jose Sharks 4-3. Sidney Crosby scored his 599th goal in regulation to move within one goal of becoming the second active player to record 600 goals, joining Alex Ovechkin (863). Bryan Rust and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for the Penguins, who had lost three straight and five of six.
Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves. Tyler Toffoli scored twice for the Sharks, who finished 1-2-1 on their East Coast road trip. MacKenzie Blackwood made 25 saves -- including six in overtime -- in relief of Vitek Vanecek, who left after the first period because of an undisclosed injury.
Twenty-year-old Penguins defenseman Owen Pickering, the 21st pick in the 2022 NHL draft, played 13:40 and had an assist in his NHL debut. The Sharks trailed 3-1 after two periods, but Mikael Granlund cut the deficit in half at 6:56 of the third when he knocked in a loose puck on the rush. Toffoli tied it 3-3 at 11:40.
Ty Dellandrea entered the zone along the left boards, stopped and passed to Toffoli cutting down the slot and he beat Nedeljkovic stick side. Rust gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead just 1:01 into the game, taking a pass behind the net from Michael Bunting and cutting in front to score with a backhand shot. Puljujarvi made it 2-0 at 6:34.
Vanecek made the initial save on Drew O'Connor's shot from the right circle, but Puljujarvi knocked in the rebound. Crosby increased the lead to 3-0 at 4:19 in the second period. Blackwood stopped his first slap shot from the point, but Erik Karlsson controlled the rebound and passed back to Crosby, whose slap shot went in through traffic.
Toffoli pulled the Sharks within 3-1 with a power-play goal at 12:05. Will Smith controlled the puck off a deflection, found Toffoli all alone at the right post on the rush and Toffoli tucked it in. This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.
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