Penguins score 3 in 3rd, defeat Sharks to end 4-game losing streak

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins scored three goals in the third period to end a four-game skid with a 6-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

John Ludvig and Rickard Rakell broke a tie with goals 2:00 apart early in the third.

Ludvig, who also had an assist, gave the Penguins a 4-3 lead at 2:38 with a wrist shot through traffic from the point, and Rakell was credited with the goal that made it 5-3 at 4:38 when Pierre-Olivier Joseph's one-timer deflected in off his skate.

Bryan Rust then scored an empty-net goal on Pittsburgh's fourth shot of the period at 18:04 for the 6-3 final.

Drew O'Connor and Joseph each had two assists for the Penguins (29-27-9), who were outscored 17-2 during the losing streak (0-3-1). Tristan Jarry made 29 saves.

“The reality is we’re still in it,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said of his team, which is five points behind the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. “I think that’s the conversation that we’ve had with the group almost daily. We’ve got to control what we can. We’ve got to stay in the race. We’ve just got to keep fighting, control that one game in front of us, and see where it takes us.

“I believe it’s not insurmountable. I believe we have what it takes to continue to push and give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs.”

Klim Kostin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic each had a goal and an assist, and Mikael Granlund had two assists for the Sharks (16-42-7), who have lost 11 of 12. Magnus Chrona made 25 saves.

“I thought we were a little slow reacting defensively tonight, but I just loved our compete,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “I thought we really battled hard. It's unfortunate we weren't able to defend a little bit better around our net in those instances in the third period. Maybe it was fatigue."

Noel Acciari put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 10:28 of the first period, deflecting a point shot from Erik Karlsson. He had one assist during a 21-game goal drought since last scoring Dec. 31.

Fabian Zetterlund tied it 1-1 at 14:31 on a rebound just outside the crease off a shot from Calen Addison. It was Zetterlund’s NHL career-high 17th goal of the season.

Vlasic gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 19:01 with a sharp-angled shot that deflected in off the knee of Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson. 

“We were a little bit careless with the puck and didn’t pressure as much as we should have,” Rakell said. “We didn’t have the start that we wanted. Hopefully, we can correct that for the next game.”

Jeff Carter tied it 2-2 at 4:11 of the second period, tapping in a backhand pass from Emil Bemstrom, who circled the net before passing across the crease to Carter.

Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins back in front 3-2 at 11:34, scoring with his backhand on the rebound of O’Connor's shot.

“It’s obviously been a struggle to score goals the last few,” O’Connor said. “So to score six, I think, feels pretty good. But just feels good to get back in the win column, I think.”

Kostin tied it 3-3 at 18:42 with a one-timer in the slot off a backhand pass from Granlund. The goal was Kostin’s first in three games since being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.

"There's been a lot of these games where we go to the third period tied and then they get their goal or two goals and we're behind,” Granlund said. “There are a lot of things we can grow at. We would like to get the better result.”

The Sharks also entered the third period tied in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

"I thought our mindset was pretty good from the start of the period,” San Jose defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “Just an unfortunate two goals that they had early that made us have to chase the game."

NOTES: Penguins forward Sidney Crosby, who had the secondary assist on Rust’s goal, has five assists during a 10-game goal drought. He leads Pittsburgh with 32 goals in 65 games. ... The Sharks used 13 forwards and five defensemen with defenseman Jacob MacDonald out because of an undisclosed illness. ... San Jose did not score on its two power plays, ending a streak of five straight games with a power-play goal (8-for-16).