The Pittsburgh Penguins concluded their California road trip with a matchup against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday evening (October 18). The Sharks (0-3-2) suffered their second loss in as many nights, losing 3-0 to the Penguins (4-2-0). Pittsburgh finished its road trip with a 2-1-0 record.
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Tristan Jarry played lights out and picked up the 22nd shutout of his career, making 30 saves in the win. Despite an incredible performance between the pipes, Alex Nedeljkovic picked up the defeat with 24 saves on 26 shots.
Summary of the game
As the offense got going for both teams, the goaltenders stole the show. After fending off a lot of pressure from the Penguins in their own zone in the first four minutes, San Jose’s William Eklund found the puck and skated it the other way. He forced Jarry into two great saves in a dangerous area to keep it a scoreless game. With 9:39 to go, Nedeljkovic came up with three key right pad saves on Ben Kindel to keep the game deadlocked. Neither team found the back of the net, despite shots being 18-11 in favor of Pittsburgh.
The game picked up pace in the second period and both teams had good chances. The Penguins’ best chance in the opening five minutes came from a scramble around the net. The crossbar came into play, making it a scoreless match. Michael Misa came close to opening the scoring for the Sharks, but Jarry came up with a big save down the left path to keep the 18-year-old off the board. The match finally saw its first goal at 7:35. Kris Letang’s shot from the blue line hit Sidney Crosby’s stick for his third of the season. The Sharks were unable to maintain the level of play despite leading 11-4 in the middle frame.
The Penguins extended their lead 7:02 into the third period. A beautiful passing game between Evgeni Malkin, Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha ended with Mantha putting the puck under the crossbar for his second goal of the season. Just minutes later, the Sharks turned up the pressure. Jarry came up with a big save to keep his shutout intact. With 21.8 seconds left and Nedeljkovic pulling, Malkin got his second point of the night with the empty net goal, making it a 3-0 game and securing the Penguins’ second win of the road trip.
The Sharks and Penguins return to action on Tuesday evening (October 21). The Sharks begin a four-game road trip on the East Coast, starting with the New York Islanders. The Penguins will be back on home ice to welcome the Vancouver Canucks to PPG Paints Arena.
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