It's another fight back from three goals down and another point in the standings, but it is ultimately just that as the San Jose Sharks fall 4-3 in the shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It marks the second time on this four-game road trip that the Sharks manage to come back from 3 down to beat a team in Pennsylvania, and they end the road trip 1-1-2. It was an eventful trip, but the Sharks now head home.
Another Sharks game and it was another early goal given up. Sixty-one seconds in, Bryan Rust picked up the puck behind the Sharks net and spun in front, getting a shot away past Vitek Vanecek. The defending from this young Sharks team wasn't great, but you need a save from the Czech netminder there. It's a difficult goal to give up, but the Penguins broke the ice early, and the Sharks fell behind again.
Soon after, the Penguins would make it 2-0. A shot from the left of Vitek Vanecek was kicked away into the path of Jesse Puljujarvi, who shot the rebound home before the Sharks defense could respond to it. Again, it's not a great team defense, and you want the goaltender to do better, but the Sharks couldn't worry about that now and had to begin their fight back. They were in a hole they needed to dig out of again.
In the second period, the Penguins made it 3-0. Mackenzie Blackwood came into the net for Vitek Vanecek, who departed with an injury, and Penguins star Sidney Crosby hammered one in from the point for goal 599 of his career. It was a rocket neither the netminder nor the defenders could do anything about, and sometimes you just have to accept Sidney Crosby will do that. 3-0 Penguins and the Sharks need to come back from 3-0 down in Pennsylvania again.
So, when the Sharks need to come back, they turn to their big free-agent signing. On the powerplay, the Sharks would speedfully enter the offensive zone via Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini's pass into the slot to Tyler Toffoli was cut out, but Will Smith picked up the pieces to set up Toffoli again, and this time, he buried it to make it a 3-1 game, and the Sharks were on the way back into this game.
A returning Pittsburgh Penguin would haunt his former team in the third period. With the Lund line on the ice, Mikael Granlund starts the breakout. He finds a cross-ice pass to William Eklund. Eklund finds a bank pass off the boards to let Fabian Zetterlund race onto a loose puck in the Penguins zone. Zetterlund fires a pass to the far post for Granlund, who buries it, and the Sharks fight again.
Halfway through the third period, the big free agent signing struck again. Jake Walman flips the puck up the ice for Ty Dellandrea. The speedy winger wins a race into the zone and finds Toffoli loose in the slot. His shot beats the Penguins netminder, and the Sharks have come all the way back from 3 down to tie this game, and we fight on.
In overtime, Mackenzie Blackwood kept the Sharks in it, but the offense failed to connect, so we went to a shootout where Evgeni Malkin struck the fatal blow. As I said, sometimes Malkin can do Malkin things. It's nothing to be ashamed of, and the Sharks return from this with a .500 record. That's not awful. Now, Team Teal can enjoy some rest at home.