{"id":60416,"date":"2025-12-14T00:49:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T00:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/60416\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T00:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T00:49:07","slug":"penguins-absolute-collapse-unimaginable-loss-to-sharks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/60416\/","title":{"rendered":"PENGUINS ABSOLUTE COLLAPSE, Unimaginable Loss to Sharks"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> (14-8-8) hit rock bottom Saturday in their woes against the extra attacker. They allowed four third period goals in less than 11 minutes against the San Jose Sharks San Jose Sharks <\/a>(16-14-3) and a safe and cozy Penguins 5-1 lead became an inexplicable, mystifying 6-5 overtime loss at PPG Paints Arena. <\/p>\n

The Penguins set a low water mark in catostrophic collapses. The Penguins scored four unanswered goals through the second period into the third, but San Jose returned fire, scoring four unanswered in 10:49 late into the third period to force overtime. <\/p>\n

And then the Penguins did the unimaginable. They had blown three three-goal leads in November, winning one, but Saturday was more than a gut punch, it was a roundhouse kick. <\/p>\n

San Jose\u2019s comeback, or the Penguins collapse was nearly complete at 17:32 when San Jose phenom Macklin Celebrini poked a rebound past Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs to pull within 5-4. <\/p>\n

Then, one minute later, the unthinkable was reality as Tyler Toffoli tied the game at 18:32. <\/p>\n

And John Klingberg scored the winner in overtime. And the storyline echoed loudly as the Penguins punted yet another win by giving up a pair of goals against the extra attacker to allow overtime and failed to finish OT chances. <\/p>\n

Stunning might be the only word if combined with a few unprintable utterances to describe the meltdown. <\/p>\n

Sidney Crosby<\/a> tallied a power play goal and an assist, moving to within two points of tying and three of breaking the franchise\u2019s all-time points record held by Mario Lemieux <\/a>(1723). <\/p>\n

Things looked good in the second period. <\/p>\n

With a yell and a stick twirl, winger Rutger McGroarty launched the Penguins second period attack. It was they who smelled blood in the water, not the Sharks. <\/p>\n

With the score tied 1-1 after the first period, McGroarty (1) had one good chance in the opening seconds, but on the subsequent rush, sniped a top-shelf wrister from the back of the left circle at just 0:19 of the second.<\/p>\n

The Penguins kept attacking. In the middle of the period, Noel Acciari pounced on a loose puck in the slot, sliding a pass to Kevin Hayes on the left side of the net. Hayes (3) easily snapped it into the yawning cage for a 3-1 lead at 9:42. <\/p>\n

And in the final seconds, the Penguins power play reached the crescendo of the game. With intensity, the retreived loose pucks and blitzed San Jose until Crosby slipped a pass to Bryan Rust<\/a> in the slot. Rust (10) ripped it past beleagured San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov at 19:53. <\/p>\n

The second period was a measure of power as the Penguins outmuscled young San Jose, kept the puck and let loose dangerous shots. In the middle 20 minutes, the Penguins outshot San Jose 22-6 and had dominating 4-1 lead. <\/p>\n

The Penguins were immediately better Saturday than in their hapless loss to the Montreal Canadiens Thursday, but they were not first to the scoreboard. Goalie Arturs Silovs<\/a> lost the shot from the top of the zone by Tyler Toffoli, and the 59-foot wrist shot sailed by Silovs at 10:27 of the first period. <\/p>\n

However, later in the first period, the Penguins spent just eight seconds on the power play. Sidney Crosby (19) inched to within three points of Lemieux when he quickly tapped a rebound past Askarov at 12:41. <\/p>\n

San Jose\u2019s transition game earned a few rush chances in the first 30 minutes, and Will Smith had a breakaway after serving a two-minute minor for hooking at 15:01 of the second, but Silovs made the save. <\/p>\n

In fact, Silovs redeemed his early miss with a pair of breakaway saves and a few other tough saves before the Penguins seized commanding control.<\/p>\n

After 40 minutes, the Penguins were outshooting San Jose 34-13. <\/p>\n

Anthony Mantha added a power play goal from the crease at 5:25 of the third period. It was his third point (1-2-3), and third power play point in the game. <\/p>\n

With a mid-third-period 5v3 power play, San Jose added a goal when defenseman John Klingberg beat Silovs at 7:33. <\/p>\n

To make things a little more spicy in the final minutes, after Silovs made a diving stop on Alex Wennberg, William Eklund (8) finished the rebound to pull San Jose within 5-3 at 14:19. <\/p>\n

And then San Jose scored a pair with the extra attacker. <\/p>\n

Penguins Notes, Lines<\/p>\n

Newly acquired Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak were not available Saturday as they have not yet received work visas for the U.S. <\/p>\n

The Penguins activated Rickard Rakell<\/a>, Friday. He missed 20 games with an upper-body injury. <\/p>\n

Coach Dan Muse juggled his lines with Rakell\u2019s return:<\/p>\n

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust<\/p>\n

Rutger McGroarty-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n

Ville Koivunen-Tommy Novak-Anthony Mantha<\/p>\n

Connor Dewar-Kevin Hayes-Noel Acciari<\/p>\n

Defense<\/p>\n

Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n

Ryan Shea-Kris Letang<\/p>\n

Ryan Graves-Connor Clifton<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Penguins game<\/a> Penguins lines<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> San Jose Sharks<\/a> Sidney Crosby<\/a> <\/p>\n

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