PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Saturday night. Sidney Crosby and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for Pittsburgh in the shootout. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped Alexander Wennberg in the fifth round of the shootout to give Pittsburgh the win.
Crosby also scored in the second period and is now one goal from becoming the second active and 21st player in NHL history to reach 600 goals. Bryan Rust and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for Pittsburgh. Erik Karlsson had an assist and surpassed Doug Wilson for 16th place on the NHL’s career points list among defensemen.
He also tied Borje Salming for 15th on the NHL’s career assists list among defensemen. Nedeljkovic made 26 saves for Pittsburgh. Tyler Toffoli scored twice, including a power-play goal, while Mikael Granlund also scored for the Sharks.
Granlund and Toffoli scored in the third period to tie the game, as San Jose rallied from a three-goal deficit to force overtime. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves for the Sharks after replacing Vitek Vanecek who left after the first period with an injury. Sharks: San Jose has lost three in a row and five of its last seven games overall.
The Sharks lost their first nine games of the season. Their last four have been decided by one goal. Penguins: Snapped a three-game skid and rebounded from an ugly 6-2 loss at Columbus on Friday.
Blackwood denied Crosby from scoring his 600th career goal twi.
