SAN JOSE, Calif. — Despite some spotty defensive work by both teams, a goaltending duel emerged between Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic.
In a fast-paced game without penalties, plenty of quality scoring chances, and entertaining hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins (4-2-0) beat the San Jose Sharks (0-3-2) 3-0 at the SAP Center on Thursday.
The Penguins have won two in a row and won two of three on the three-game West Coast swing through Anaheim, LA, and San Jose.
Nedeljkovic turned aside 18 shots and 10 high-danger chances in the first period. The former Penguins goalie kept his team in the game as the Penguins attacked.
Jarry not only kept pace, he outdueled his former comrade.
Oh, the Penguins attacked. And attacked more. The great chances, the glorious chances, and even the mediocre opportunities met the same fate: A Nedeljkovic save.
The Penguins were also quite generous with their hosts. A few ghastly turnovers in the defensive zone, including a pair by defenseman Kris Letang, and some defensive casualness put Jarry in a few uncomfortable positions, as well.
Jarry was quite good and made all of the saves through 40 minutes, including no less than a half dozen sparkling saves when it was just him and the shooter without defensive help.
San Jose wunderkind William Eklund had a couple of great chances. So, too, did Jeff Skinner, who breezed by Letang in the middle of the second period only to be thwarted by Jarry.
After all of the pretty chances, the Penguins scored the only goal in the first 40 minutes on a greasy deflection. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (3) was being moved from the front of the net by newly claimed Vincent Iorio, but demonstrated his legendary hand-eye coordination by deflecting the waist-high shot with the shaft of his stick despite proper defense by Iorio at 7:35 of the second period.
The Penguins outshot San Jose 18-11 in a wildly entertaining first period. San Jose outshot the Penguins 11-5 in the second, but the Penguins hit a pair of posts, which don’t count as a shot on goal.
The Penguins made it a two-goal lead midway through the third period with a couple of deft plays. First, Evgeni Malkin slowed the play at the offensive blue line and avoided defensive pressure with a short shovel pass to Justin Brazeau on the right wall.
Brazeau quickly sidestepped Celebrini to create a short two-on-one with Anthony Mantha. Brazeau slipped a pass across the low zone to Mantha (2), whose surgical shot to the far post lit the lamp at 7:02.
The assist was Malkin’s team-leading eighth point this season. Then, Malkin (2) added the empty net goal in the waning seconds for his ninth point (2-7-9).
The game achieved a great pace on the ice and on the clock. Referees Tom Chmielewski (No. 18) and Alex Lepkowski (No. 44) called zero penalties through two periods, and the third period began at 8:49 p.m.
The first penalty of the game wasn’t until 12:34 of the third period when refs called Bryan Rust for a deserved slashing penalty on 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini.
The next penalty was shortly after Rust’s minor expired when San Jose defenseman Nick Leddy was called for holding Rust, newly out of the penalty box.
Jarry stopped all 31 shots for his 22nd career shutout and first of the season.
San Jose remains the only winless team in the NHL.
Letang’s second-period assist was the 598th helper of his career. When he reaches 600, he’ll become just the 20th defenseman all-time and only fourth active defenseman (Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Victor Hedman) to reach the mark.
Also check out our colleague Sheng Peng at San Jose Hockey Now for the other side of the contest.
Tags: Penguins game Pittsburgh Penguins San Jose Sharks
Categorized: Penguins Postgame