Crosby scores twice in Penguins' 5-0 victory over Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Sidney Crosby scored two goals as Pittsburgh continued their dominance over San Jose with a 5-0 victory Saturday night at SAP Center.
By handing the Sharks their second straight loss on home ice and third in a row overall, the Penguins swept the two-game season series four months after needed six games to capture the Stanley Cup over San Jose.
Crosby surprisingly leads the NHL with eight goals after having missed the first six games of the season with a concussion. Speedy linemate Carl Hagelin chipped in three assists, including on each of the Pittsburgh captain's two tallies.
Goalie Matt Murray made 32 saves in his second appearance of the season to record his second career shutout.
The Sharks suffered their most lopsided loss without the benefit of scoring a goal since Dec. 18, 2008 (6-0 at Detroit). And during San Jose's fifth and final power play late in the third period, coach Peter DeBoer skipped over the team's top forwards -- Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture -- during the entire two minutes.
Pittsburgh turned the game into a rout with a three-goal second period.
Crosby scored his second of the night 13 seconds into the period by batting an attempted clear by Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic past goalie Martin Jones, who was replaced by rookie Aaron Dell.
Center Eric Fehr made it 4-0 at 2:33 when he one-timed a Matt Cullen feed from below the goal line over the left shoulder of Dell, who was making only his second appearance of the year and first since Oct. 18.
San Jose continued to misfire on the power play with a chance to get back into the game. The Sharks poured eight shots on goal in their first three power plays before disaster struck on their fourth man advantage.
With Pittsburgh guilty of too many men at 16:04, center Nick Bonino tapped a cross-ice feed from defenseman Trevor Daley past Dell for the Penguins' first short-handed goal of the season and a 5-0 lead at 16:28.
Nevermind San Jose doubled Pittsburgh's shot total (12-6) during the opening period, the Penguins scored the only two goals of the period while frustrating the Sharks at almost every turn.
Left wing Chris Kunitz gave the visitors a 1-0 lead 4:22 after the opening faceoff by picking the far top corner over the glove of Jones for his first of the season.
Pittsburgh moved quickly following a turnover deep in its end by Thornton. Within the blink of an eye, the Penguins broke over the blue line with a 2-on-1 advantage, and diving defenseman Brent Burns could not deny Kunitz from launching his blast from the left circle.
The Sharks threatened in the middle portion of the period. Left wing Tomas Hertl struck the right post with a blast at 7:35. Couture was denied on a redirect and Burns was thwarted from the right point during a power play that yielded four shots but not a conversion.
And Hertl was turned aside on a backhand attempt into Murray's pads at 13:50.
Finally, Pittsburgh snapped a 9:32 drought without a shot when Crosby scored his seventh goal in six games by going to the backhand behind the goal line to bank a shot off the right skate of Jones and over the goal line at 18:28.
NOTES: San Jose coach Peter DeBoer shuffled his forward lines following a 3-2 loss on Thursday at home to Calgary. The key change was moving Tomas Hertl to left wing alongside C Joe Thornton and RW Joe Pavelski while Patrick Marleau slipped between LW Mikkel Boedker and RW Melker Karlsson on a third line. ... The Sharks head to Washington on Tuesday to begin a season-high six-game road trip. ... The Penguins, who capped a four-game trip Saturday, hosts Edmonton on Tuesday to open a three-game homestand. ... RW Tommy Wingels and D Dylan DeMelo were San Jose's healthy scratches while D David Warsofsky, LW Tom Sestito and RW Tom Kuhnhackl did not dress for Pittsburgh.