Penguins' Late Push Comes Up Short in San Jose

Saving some of their best hockey for down the stretch, the Pittsburgh Penguins battled to the bitter end Monday night at SAP Center, before ultimately falling, 2-1, to the San Jose Sharks.

Desperate to erase a two-game losing streak, the Penguins tossed 16 third-period shots toward 22-year-old netminder Yaroslav Askarov, but only captain Sidney Crosby’s shot 24 seconds into the final stanza eluded the highly-regarded Sharks rookie.

"They had some blocked shots. We still had some good looks,” Crosby said. “We hit a couple posts and I thought we had some great opportunities. It hasn't been going in for us, and one or two go in, it's a different game."

Prior to the Penguins’ late push, San Jose took advantage of turnovers to take leads of 1-0 and 2-1, courtesy of goals by Mikael Granlund and Macklin Celebrini, respectively. Celebrini, the top pick in last year’s draft, tallied the eventual winner 2:17 minutes after Crosby’s equalizer.

While aiming to get back to .500 on this season-long seven-game road trip, the Penguins had ample opportunities in the final 10 minutes to extend the contest beyond regulation. Midway through the period, Drew O’Connor forced a shorthanded breakaway that became a penalty shot after a Timothy Liljegren hook. O’Conner skated in from left to right on the penalty shot, but his attempt skidded off the top of Askarov’s pad.

“Just kind of bobbled it at the blue line, he was able to kind of get a jump on it,” O’Connor said. “He got me in the hands a little bit when I was trying to go to my backhand. When you have the opportunity for a penalty shot, you have to find a way to put it in. Had the chance to tie the game up. So, got to find a way to score there.”

Later, with 5:14 left to play, Michael Bunting’s centering pass went off Granlund and rolled into the cage for what looked like the equalizer. But the Sharks quickly challenged, winning the replay when it was determined that Anthony Beauvillier interfered with Askarov’s leg.

"We pushed. In that situation, it's something that you got to find a way to push,” Crosby said. “I thought we had it with Bunts there and kept pushing after that. Just like I said, we haven't been able to find the net as much."

Alex Nedeljkovic was solid between the pipes once again for the Penguins. Making his fourth start in the past six games, Nedeljkovic gave his team a chance, turning aside 26 of 28 shots.

Nedeljkovic was at his best during the middle stanza, when the Sharks outshot Pittsburgh by a 13-6 count. Only Granlund’s glove-side wrist shot beat Nedeljkovic, whose highlight reel that period included denying former Pens forward Colin White’s mini breakaway 30 seconds after the Granlund goal, and a right-pad denial on Tyler Toffoli’s one-timer from the high slot early in the frame.

Much like the later stages of the third period, the Penguins came out strong at the outset of the game. Coming off a pair of rough outcomes against Seattle and Anaheim, the Penguins’ legs appeared rejuvenated against the Sharks. Taking advantage of Sunday’s well-placed day off, the Pens came out with excellent jump.

Less than a minute into the contest, Kevin Hayes set the tone for the Pens’ strong start, hitting the post on a 2-on-1 with O’Connor. By driving hard to the back post, O’Connor forced Liljegren to take an interference penalty as both skaters battled for the carom off the post.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, it was unable to capitalize off the early momentum. The Pens fired four shots on goal on the ensuing power play, then almost immediately following the man-advantage, Marcus Pettersson hit a post before Askarov made a sliding right-pad save on Bunting’s breakaway.

In total, the Penguins were credited with six of the first eight shots, and you would like to think that with some better puck luck during those opening sequences, the outcome of the game could have been reversed.

Pittsburgh concludes its road trip on Wednesday night when it makes its first-ever trip to Salt Lake City to play Utah Hockey Club at 10:30 PM ET.

"It's hard because we've had a lot of looks the last few games and haven't necessarily been scoring,” O’Connor said. “It can be frustrating when that happens, so, just have to find a way to regroup and get the next one. I think the last few games, we've done a lot of good things - we haven't gotten the result. So, we have to find ways to make it happen."

NOTE: NHL.com continued its unveiling of all 32 clubs’ Quarter-Century Teams, with San Jose at bat during Monday’s first intermission. Current Penguins blueliner Erik Karlsson was selected to the Shark’s Second-Team on defense. Karlsson spent five seasons wearing silver and teal, including his banner 2022-23 campaign that saw the high-flying Swede capture his third Norris Trophy thanks to 101 points (25G-76A) while playing for current Pittsburgh assistant coach David Quinn, who was in his first season as the Sharks’ bench boss.

Patrick Marleau, the NHL’s all-time games played leader who enjoyed a brief cup of coffee with Pittsburgh during the Covid-shortened 2019-20 season, joined Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski on the Sharks’ First-Team.