Penguins pull away from Sharks, 6-3
PITTSBURGH -- John Ludvig and Rickard Rakell scored two minutes apart in the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled away from the San Jose Sharks for a 6-3 win on Thursday night.
Ludvig scored his second goal of the season on a shot from the left point at 2:38 of the third period to make it a 4-3 game. Rakell stuck out his leg to deflect P.O. Joseph's shot across the line at 4:48, as Pittsburgh snapped a four-game losing streak.
Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Jeff Carter Noel Acciari also scored for Pittsburgh, which won for the first time since dealing star winger Jake Guentzel to the Hurricanes at the trade deadline last week. Tristan Jarry made 30 saves for the Penguins, who were outscored 17-2 during their losing streak.
Fabian Zetterlund, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Klim Kostin scored for San Jose, which lost for the 11th time in 12 games. Magnus Chrona stopped 25 shots.
Acciari opened the scoring at 10:28 of the first period with his first goal in 22 games. He deflected a point shot by former Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, last year's Norris Trophy winner, who was acquired in a summer trade with San Jose.
Zetterlund converted a rebound from the top of the crease at 14:31 of the first period. Vlasic gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 19:02 when he threw a shot at the net from deep in the corner, which hit Marcus Pettersson in front and went behind Jarry.
Carter tied the game at 2-2, at 4:11 of the second on a tap in from Emil Bemstrom, and Malkin put the Penguins in front 3-2 at 11:34. Kostin tied the game in the final two minutes of the period.
The Penguins intended to give Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads away to fans during the game. But instead, the team will give fans a voucher that will allow them to pick up the item at a later date after the shipment carrying the bobbleheads was stolen in California.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Continue a five-game road trip Saturday night at Columbus.
