The Pittsburgh Penguins were playing their second game in as many nights on Sunday evening against the San Jose Sharks, and they were playing short a defenseman, with Kris Letang missing the game with a concussion.
So when the Penguins and Sharks needed overtime to settle things, and the Patric Hornqvist took a four-minute high-sticking penalty, things certainly looked bleak for the black and goal, but the Penguins were able to kill off the penalty and beat the Sharks 3-2 in a shootout.
All five of the Penguins defensemen finished with over 18 minutes of ice-time, led by Ben Lovejoy with 27:44.
Much like they did on Saturday against Arizona, the Penguins used a quick scoring burst to build a lead. This time, it happened in the middle of the first period.
At 7:08 of the opening frame, Hornqvist found the rebound of a Daniel Winnik shot in the slot and pushed a diving backhander past San Jose netminder Alex Stalock. Ian Cole earned the second assist on the opening goal.
Just 33 seconds later, defenseman Taylor Fedun, who had just been called up from the Sharks’ AHL affiliate in Worcester, MA earlier that morning, hooked Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins went on the power play.
Sidney Crosby won the ensuing faceoff, and the puck came around to Derrick Pouliot on the left-wing boards. Pouliot made a diving play to escape a defender and pass it back to Crosby, who quickly shifted the puck from his backhand to his forehand and ripped a pass across the box to Chris Kunitz, who redirected it home for his first power play goal in 26 games.
The Sharks would turn the tide in the second period, putting a pair of goal past Marc-Andre Fleury to even the score. Ben Smith scored on a redirection of a Justin Braun point shot at 6:44 of the second period.
Much like the Penguins in the early going, the Sharks continued to press the attack after they scored a goal and a result, they earned two consecutive power plays. The Penguins were able to kill off the first, a hooking minor on center Maxim Lapierre, but with Ben Lovejoy in the box for cross checking, Logan Couture found his way behind the Pens defense and beat Marc-Andre Fleury to the short side and tie the game at 2-2.
A scoreless third period would lead the to the Penguins’ penalty-killing heroics in overtime. They finished 5-of-6 on the penalty kill.
In the shootout, both Sidney Crosby and David Perron – an unexpected addition to the lineup after missing Saturday’s game with an illness – scored for the Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury shut the door, stopping Melker Karlsson and Logan Couture.
The Penguins will have Monday off before returning to practice on Tuesday. Assistant coaches Rick Tocchet and Gary Agnew will run practice, as head coach Mike Johnston will travel to Nova Scotia to attend the funeral of his mother, who passed away over the weekend. The Pens next game is at home on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Photo credit: NHLI/Getty Images
