1 week Ago By Seth Rorabaugh
Mike Sullivan’s professes a base consideration when he crafts each and every lineup he writes out as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. “Which guy gives us the best chance to win,” Sullivan said as recently as Nov. 10.
“That is what pro sports is all about. Performance is always going to be the dictator.” On Saturday, veteran defenseman Ryan Graves — two years into a six-year contract with a salary cap hit of $4.
5 million — and reserve winger Valtteri Puustinen were not included in the team’s lineup, presumably based on lackluster performances as of late. Rookie defenseman Owen Pickering — a first-round draft pick (No. 21 overall) in 2022 — and forward Vasily Ponomarev were deemed viable components of that group and helped the team claim a badly needed 4-3 shootout victory against the San Jose Sharks at PPG Paints Arena.
The triumph — admittedly against one of the NHL’s weakest teams and despite a blown three-goal lead — snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Shootout goals by forwards Sidney Crosby, Anthony Beauvillier and Evgeni Malkin secured victory. Pickering and Ponomarev were recalled to the NHL roster in recent days (following the promotion of rookie forward Sam Poulin on Monday).
The 20-year-old Pickering made his NHL debut while Ponomarev, acquired in a major trade that sent All-Star forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes on March 7, made his Penguins debut (and appeared in his third career NHL contest). With All-Star defenseman Kris Letang also scratched for the second consecutive game due to illness, Pickering opened the contest in Graves’ typical station on the left side of the third pairing. Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Ponomarev, typically utilized as a center, began play on the right wing of the fourth line.
Veteran forward Bryan Rust opened the scoring 61 seconds into regulation with his fifth goal of the season with a backhanded wraparound from the right of the cage through goaltender Vitek Vanecek’s five hole. Malkin utilized a dazzling backhander on a would-be goal at 5:42 of the first period, but the Sharks’ issued a coach’s challenge on the suspicions of the sequence being offside. The officials verified those claims and euthanized the score.
Only 52 seconds later, Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi scored a valid goal, his second of the campaign, cleaning up a one-timer from the Sharks’ lower left circle. Linemate Drew O’Conner and Pickering picked up assists. Vanecek did not complete the contest and was replaced at the start of the second period by backup Mackenzie Blackwood.
Crosby scored his team-leading seventh goal — the 599th of his career — at 4:19 into the second period with a slapper from the right point of the offensive zone, something of a rarity for him. The Sharks got on the scoreboard at 12:05 of the second frame when forward Tyler Toffoli tallied his seventh goal during a power-play sequence. Ex-Penguins forward Mikael Granlund’s eighth goal came at 6:56 of the third period.
That was followed by Toffoli striking again at 11:40 of the same frame. Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic unofficially stopped 26 of 29 shots in regulation and overtime then three of five shots in the shootout. His record improved to 3-3-3.
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