The Pittsburgh Penguins staved off a furious comeback by the San Jose Sharks and won 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday.
Bryan Rust, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins. Alex Nedeljkovic started and made 26 saves.
Tyler Toffoli scored twice, and Mikael Granlund scored the other goal for the Sharks. Vitek Vanecek left the game after the first period and did not return. He made eight saves. Mackenzie Blackwood came in and made 23 saves. He gave up one goal.
The Sharks got off to another slow start but rallied back with some terrific offensive plays from their second and third lines. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith played on the same line together for the first time in their careers.
Both Smith and Celebrini were stopped in the shootout. Smith had a chance to win the game if he had scored.
Rust walks out from behind the net and wraps the puck in through Vanecek.
Evgeni Malkin walks into the middle and thinks he made it 2-0, but the Sharks challenged for offside and won.
Puljujarvi gets his second of the season and makes it a 2-0 game after Vanecek gave up a bad rebound. Owen Pickering got his first NHL point with a secondary assist.
Blackwood takes over for Vanecek to start the second period. The team ruled Vanecek as questionable to return.
Crosby makes it 3-0 with his 599th career goal with a slap-shot through traffic.
Toffoli gets the Sharks on the board with a powerplay goal with Will Smith assisting on the play. It was Toffoli’s 7th goal of the season.
Granlund scores against his old team to make it 3-2 with a terrific shot in front of the net.
Toffoli scores his second of the night to tie the game at three with a snipe in front of the net.
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