Penguins 5, Sharks 1
SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks wore throwback jerseys, but it was the Pittsburgh Penguins who reverted to the old days to finally win at SAP Center.
The Penguins got two goals from right winger Phil Kessel and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 33 of 34 shots to win in San Jose, 5-1, for the first time since October of 1997. Pittsburgh had gone 13 games in San Jose since without a victory.
Pittsburgh left winger David Perron cinched Tuesday's contest with a power-play strike at 8:42 of the third period. He scored his fourth goal of the season in front off a pass from right winger Chris Kunitz 1:50 into a too-many-men penalty on San Jose.
Kessel added his second of the night and ninth of the season at 15:54 into an empty net. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer opted to lift goalie Martin Jones in favor of an extra skater just 30 seconds earlier at 15:24
The Sharks lost two of their last three at home after dropping four of five on the previous homestand. San Jose is only 4-7 at home as opposed to 10-3 on the road.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. And like their goal in the first, both came from behind the San Jose goal line.
Center Matt Cullen took advantage of a broken play deep in the San Jose end to skate behind the left post and deflected a shot off the back of goalie Martin Jones' left skate at 4:40 for his second goal of the season.
Then, at 6:35, Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin scored his team-leading 12th goal on a wrap-around. Malkin first beat San Jose defenseman Paul Martin while skating wide in the left circle, and took advantage of Martin, who came out in an attempt to poke check. That left the net vacated for Malkin to skate behind and tuck the puck in the opposite side.
The Sharks finally broke through at 15:35 on the power play. Right winger Joe Pavelski took two Penguins with him as he skated hard through the right circle. The San Jose captain made a quick pass through the crease to left winger Patrick Marleau, who one-timed his 10th goal past Fleury.
It marked San Jose's third power-play conversion in four chances over two games at home.
The hosts thought they had narrowed the deficit to a single goal 17 seconds later when center Tomas Hertl punched home a loose puck in the slot, but right winger Tommy Wingels was called for interfering with Fleury upon video review at 15:52.
The Penguins scored the only goal of a first period that feature the teams trading quality chance after quality chance in front of each other's net.
The Pittsburgh goal was a soft one. Kessel scored from behind the goal line when his centering feed caromed off the skate of Martin and again off the right skate Jones before landing in the net.
NOTES: Penguins C Sidney Crosby reunited with RW Chris Kunitz, who was promoted from the third line to join Pittsburgh's captain and LW Pascal Dupuis. LW Patric Hornqvist dropped to join C Nick Bonino and RW Beau Bennett on a third line. ... San Jose D Justin Braun was activated off injured reserve where he missed two games with an infected left elbow. ... D David Warsofsky subbed for D Adam Clendening and pairing with D Ian Cole. Warsofsky made his debut for Pittsburgh after having compiled 10 NHL games with Boston over the last two seasons. ... Pittsburgh's four-game trip continues on Saturday at Los Angeles. ... The Sharks travel to Anaheim on Friday before returning home for a game Saturday vs. Tampa Bay. ... D Matt Tennyson was the lone healthy scratch as C Ben Smith (concussion) remains sidelined without a timetable for his return. ... RW Daniel Sprong did not dress for the Penguins along with Clendening.