Sergei Murashov was magnificent on Thursday night in San Jose, earning well-deserved First Star honors in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 shootout win.
The Penguins rookie goalie stopped 36 of 38 shots in regulation and overtime, before turning aside all three Sharks he faced in the shootout.
“He was great from start to finish,” said Ben Kindel, who scored Pittsburgh’s second goal and the game-deciding shootout goal.
The Penguins held a 2-0 lead in the third period, but a Sharks team coming off its sixth comeback win of the season managed to tie it, with superstar forward Macklin Celebrini factoring into both tallies. But the Penguins found a way to come out on the right side of the result.
“Their best player made two great plays at the end. That's the way it's going to be sometimes,” Erik Karlsson said. “Unfortunate that we gave up the lead like that, but we stuck with it and came away with two points, and that's the most important thing right now. I think overall, though, it was a fairly well-executed game from our part.”
Murashov was dialed in from the start, allowing his team to settle in. The Penguins got the game’s first power play just under seven minutes in. Less than 10 seconds after the Sharks returned to full strength, Sam Girard teed up a point shot and buried it for his second goal of the year. Overall, it was a back-and-forth first period, with both teams generating zone time with their skill and speed.
The Sharks had two power plays of their own in the second period, and Murashov was particularly sharp on the penalty kill. He stopped a point-blank attempt from star forward Macklin Celebrini. The puck did eventually cross the line with Ivar Stenberg there, but it was ruled no goal as video review confirmed the San Jose forward batted the puck into the Pittsburgh net.
The Sharks had the edge in that middle frame, but the Penguins held onto their lead thanks to more spectacular play from Murashov, who racked up 22 stops through the first 40 minutes.
Early in the third, Connor Dewar drew a penalty, giving Pittsburgh another man-advantage. And this time, they found a timely goal, something they’ve struggled with in recent games. The Penguins stayed patient, waiting for a window to get the puck on net. And when Karlsson got the smallest window of opportunity, he took it. Kindel was there to put the rebound behind Yaroslavl Askarov.
“I think (the power play) felt good out there today,” Karlsson said. “I think when we got that last one in the third, it felt like we kind of really knew what we wanted to do or accomplish out there, and capitalized on it, which was needed.”
Between Karlsson’s helper there and Kris Letang collecting an assist on Girard’s goal, that’s now 56 points on the season for Pittsburgh’s defensemen, which ranks second in the NHL behind Colorado.
Not long after, Kaedan Korczak took exception to a hit from Celebrini, and they did some pushing and shoving. The Penguins defenseman got four minutes for roughing, while the Sharks forward got two. The penalty kill kept San Jose off the board as part of a strong showing for Pittsburgh’s special teams.
“Truly grateful for the efforts from the guys,” Murashov said. “They blocked. They defend tight. They didn't give a lot of air there. Especially on the penalty kill, I think we were dialed.”
Pittsburgh had a decent first half of that final frame, but the Sharks stormed back. Celebrini scored the first and set up the second, and there wasn’t much Murashov could do on either. He did a terrific job of resetting and remaining calm and collected.
In overtime, Murashov made a nifty kick save with the Sharks on a late power play before going perfect in the shootout.
It is the second win in a row for Murashov, who picked up his first of the season on Saturday in Los Angeles to start the three-game California road trip.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Head Coach Dan Muse said. “The whole game. Good by him. He’s a young guy in the league, and now to be on a road trip like this and be stacking a couple of games that way, it’s a good step for him.”
The Penguins return to Pittsburgh ahead of the Hall of Fame Game on Saturday versus Ottawa looking to build off the momentum they created on this West Coast swing.
“We obviously want to be a little bit better closing out games, and we're gonna try and do that,” Kindel said. “But I think it's a testament to our group sticking with it, still getting that win. It's big coming off the end of this road trip, taking two out of three back to Pittsburgh, and we're just going to try and keep rolling here.”
