Sharks 2023-24 Game 65 Recap: Penguins 6, Sharks 3 (3/14/24)

 The Sharks had a great first period and were mostly neck-and-neck with the Penguins, but fell apart in the third period as they lose 6-3 to the Penguins in Pittsburgh. 

The Penguins struck first during the middle of the opening period after Noel Acciari redirected a shot from Erik Karlsson. Later in the first period, the Sharks scored twice via Fabian Zetterlund and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic to gain their first lead of the game. The first one by Zetterlund was an easy tap-in into a mostly empty net off the rebound from the initial shot by Calen Addison, with Henry Thrun collecting the other assist on this goal. The second Sharks goal by Vlasic was a flukey one, shot from below the goal line and ricocheting off both Tristan Jarry and Marcus Pettersson to find the back of the net in unlikely fashion, with Klim Kostin and Mikael Granlund picking up the assists on Vlasic’s sixth goal of the year. 

The Penguins scored the next two goals of this game in the second period via Jeff Carter and Evgeni Malkin to go back ahead by one. The Sharks’ first attempt to tie it at three was waved off after Alexander Barabanov deflected it in with a high stick, but Team Teal made up for it later in the second period on Klim Kostin’s first goal as a Shark, with assists from Granlund and Vlasic. In addition, Mikael Granlund was pinned into the boards by Bryan Rust, who fell awkwardly on Granlund, twisting his right knee and leg in the process. It appeared to be a serious, discomforting injury, but Granlund miraculously returned to the Sharks bench soon after. 

In the third period, two quick goals by John Ludwig and Rickard Rakell, along with an empty-netter from Bryan Rust put this one away for the Pens, who desperately needed a win after underperforming for much of the season. 

Magnus Chrona finished his night with 25 saves on 30 shots against. Prior to this game, Jacob MacDonald was scratched due to an illness, leaving the Sharks with only five defensemen available against the Pens in Pittsburgh. In other news regarding this game, the Penguins were supposed to give away Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads to fans in attendance, except the containership at a West Coast port that had the bobbleheads in them got stolen. 

The Sharks played fairly well against the Penguins, but a combination of Sharks mistakes and the Penguins stepping up their game in the third period resulted in the Sharks unable to create a winning formula in this one. The next stop on this current Sharks road trip is in Columbus on Saturday against the Blue Jackets at 4 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App 

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