SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks missed a handful of chances to take the lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second and third periods on Saturday and it ended up costing them a point.
Jake Guentzel scored off an assist from Sidney Crosby at the 37-second mark of overtime to give the Penguins a 2-1 win over the Sharks at SAP Center.
The Sharks missed a chance to take the lead late in the second period and early in the third period after Guentzel was given a double minor for high sticking Jonathan Dahlen.
But the Sharks weren’t able to capitalize on that opportunity, nor were they able to take advantage of subsequent separate minor penalties on Marcus Pettersson as San Jose went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Sharks outshot the Penguins 28-12 in the first two periods but the two teams were still tied 1-1 after 40 minutes.
Sharks goalie Adin Hill faced just 12 shots in the first two periods but had 13 saves in the third period. Hill was making his fifth straight start, as he had gone 3-1-0 with a .933 save percentage in his last four games.
Rudolfs Balcers opened the scoring at the 7:01 mark of the first period as the Sharks got off to a fast start.
Erik Karlsson took control of a slightly errant pass from Timo Meier along the boards to the left of the Penguins net, spun around, and found an open Balcers, who redirected the puck past goalie Louis Domingue for a 1-0 Sharks lead. It was Balcers’ first goal since Nov. 6, a stretch of 14 games sandwiched around a 13-game absence due to a lower-body injury.
The Penguins got that goal back at the 10:56 mark of the first. With four Sharks skaters caught deep in the Pittsburgh zone, defenseman Kris Letang took a pass from Guentzel, sped around Mario Ferraro and beat Sharks goalie Hill for his third goal of the season.
The Sharks are in their most challenging stretch of the season so far, as, including Saturday, seven of their next eight games before the NHL all-star break are against teams that are currently in a playoff position.
The Sharks lost to the New York Rangers 3-0 on Thursday, but badly out-chanced the visitors and might have been able to earn at least a point had it not been for 37 saves from goalie Igor Shesterkin.
The Sharks host the surging Los Angeles Kings on Monday afternoon to close out their four-game homestand, then have two games against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning and one each against the Seattle Kraken, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, and Florida Panthers.
“Anytime you play the best teams in the league that are having the most success, you have to have your game in a good spot, and I think our game is in a good spot,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Saturday morning,
“If we can replicate what we did against the Rangers – analytically we were good in most departments. I like to not focus so much on the other goalie, Shesterkin or whoever’s in there tonight. It’s about us and we could do a better job of finishing in close.”
