Burns OT goal gives Sharks win against Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- Brent Burns scored 2:02 into overtime to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Burns beat goalie Tristan Jarry with a slap shot from the high slot on the power play after Pittsburgh's Kris Letang was called for tripping Logan Couture 46 seconds into overtime.
"It's been a battle," Burns said. "I think doing the right thing for portions of the game and coming out on the short end, it's not fun. It's not easy. Guys have been battling. It's nice to see something go in and see some things happening. Getting a win is obviously huge."
WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Penguins highlights]
Aaron Dell made 36 saves for the Sharks (18-21-3), who won for the second time in seven games (2-4-1).
"That was a solid game for the whole 60 minutes tonight," Dell said. "I think we showed some desperation. We won the battles. It took a little extra time, but we got it done in the end."
Patric Hornqvist scored twice for the Penguins (24-11-5), who had won three games in a row and seven of eight.

Jarry made 29 saves in his first loss since Dec. 10. He won his previous six starts.
"You can't always get two (points)," Jarry said. "It's frustrating when you don't get two. That's the end result that you want, but we're happy that we got one tonight and we just keep building on it."
Tomas Hertl put the Sharks ahead 1-0 at 2:48 of the first period when he used a screen by Patrick Marleau to redirect a pass from Burns through Jarry's five-hole. That ended a five-game goal drought for Hertl, who scored four in three games from Dec. 12-17.

Hornqvist tied the game 1-1 on a wrist shot from the slot at 16:51 before Couture scored for San Jose 1:00 later. After Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson turned over the puck in the neutral zone, Marleau found Couture for a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that made it 2-1 at 17:51.
"It's nice to win," Couture said. "Tough game against a team that's playing really well. They've lost a ton of players and they still play really, really good. [Penguins center Evgeni] Malkin was good. Rest of the guys, young players, played hard. Big win for us. Still room for improvement though."

Hornqvist scored again by chipping a pass from Bryan Rust inside the left post, tying it 2-2 with 51 seconds remaining in the second.
"I think, overall, we were the better team," Hornqvist said. "I think we had more chances. We played really hard for each other, and then in overtime they get a power play. They have good players too, so we have to learn from that. We can't take a penalty in overtime, but that's going to happen."
The Penguins played without Jake Guentzel for the first time since he had shoulder surgery Tuesday. The forward, who leads Pittsburgh with 20 goals and 43 points, is expected to miss 4-6 months after crashing into the end boards following his third-period goal in a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Monday.

They said it

"It's nice to see these guys get rewarded tonight and scoring a big goal like that on a power play, especially in overtime. I liked our game. I liked our start. I liked our energy." -- Sharks coach Bob Boughner
"I thought we were fine. I thought we had a number of quality scoring chances. We were taking what the game gave us. I think we were fine with it, with the way the game was being played. I really like the discipline that our team has right now, in all of its forms." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Need to know

Guentzel had played 203 straight regular-season games since being held out of a game against the New York Rangers on April 9, 2017, to rest for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. ... Sharks center Joe Thornton got his 1,080th assist on Burns' goal to move past Adam Oates for seventh in NHL history. ... San Jose forward Melker Karlsson was minus-1 with two shots on goal in 11:32 after missing one game with an undisclosed injury. He was hit in the head by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov's shot during a 6-1 win Saturday. ... Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk took Guentzel's place at first-line left wing with Malkin and Rust. He had one assist and four shots on goal in 20:13. ... Marleau, Thornton and Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara on Thursday became the 12th, 13th and 14th players to play at least one NHL game in four decades. ... Malkin had his personal point streak end at nine games. He had 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) during that stretch, which was interrupted when he missed two games with an illness Dec. 12-14.

What's next

Sharks: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; FS-O, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Penguins: At the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CITY, SNE, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)