The Sharks returned to SAP Center ice for the
first time since January 18th, squaring off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. A
game after Penguins captain Sydney Crosby was ejected for the first time in his
NHL career, Pittsburgh capitalized on a pair of blatant officiating misses that
resulted in two goals. They would go on to add to San Jose's loss total by
taking a tainted 3-1 victory to end their West Coast swing.
The game
was an about face from the 10 goal marathon that the two teams turned in back
on January 28th. Goals that were un-aided by shoddy officiating where at a
premium. That's not something that has benefited the Sharks this season. Every
little mistake, by a player in a Sharks sweater, or a striped shirt, seems to
bite san Jose this season. Tuesday night's affair was no exception.
Rickard Rakell staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead 5:52 into the contest after
the Penguins held the offensive zone for 40 seconds. Rakell found himself with
the puck after Jeff Petry bounced a chance off goaltender Aaron Dell. The
Penguins right wing, gathered a deflection from a spot just outside the right
post and lifted it past Dell, who was turned around in the crease after getting
bumped by Rakell moments earlier.
Sharks head coach David Quinn
elected not to challenge the play, allowing Pittsburgh to retain their lead.
The Sharks threw plenty of rubber at Penguins goaltender Casey
DeSmith, out-shooting Pittsburgh 10-9 and 17-12 respectively through the fist
two periods.
Pittsburgh took advantage of another officiating gaff
midway through the 2nd period. During a play in front of the San Jose net,
Sharks captain Logan Couture caught a high stick to the head by Jake Guentzel
as the Penguins carried the puck to the net. Couture went down in a heap in
front of the goal and defenseman Mario Ferraro was tracking Sydney Crosby who
carried the puck behind the net from right to left.
Guentzel setup on
the right post where Crosby flipped a backhand pass to him from the end boards.
After collecting Crosby's feed, Guentzel threw the puck at Dell, hitting him in
the skate for the deflection into the Sharks net.
Quinn didn't even
have the opportunity to challenge the play, because missed penalties are not
reviewable.
Timo Meier made things interesting with 4:03 to play
when he grabbed a turnover in the Sharks zone, then steamed up the left wing
before sliding the puck between Casey DeSmith's pads for his 31st goal of the
season. Meier had defenseman Marcus Pettersson riding his right shoulder as he
maneuvered the puck with one hand.
The Sharks pulled Dell with a
minute to play, but couldn't bag the equalizer. Guentzel would add an empty
netter to finish off the Sharks.
Game Notes: * Logan
Couture played in his 900th career NHL game. His 800th game also came against
the Penguins back on January 2nd of 2022.
* The Sharks recalled Eetu
Makiniemi earlier in the day, replacing Kaapo Kahkonen, who was hit in the head
in the Sharks win over Washington on Sunday. Both Kahkonen and James Reimer
were injury scratches on Tuesday night.
* Kevin Labanc returned to the
lineup for the first time since January 27th. It was revealed that Labanc's
father was placed in an induced coma around Thanksgiving.
* Timo Meier
led all skaters with 7 shots on goal. San Jose out-shot Pittsburgh in the game
39-28.
* The announced attendance was only 13,534, which shouldn't be
surprising given it was Valentine's Day. Not sure the schedulers were thinking
about this one.
