Penguins stumble into break with ugly loss to Sharks

Sidney Crosby didn’t look like someone about to embark on a long break from work.

The Penguins’ captain looked like someone who suspects his team might be broken.

After Saturday’s repugnant 6-4 home loss to the San Jose Sharks, one of the worst outfits in the NHL, Crosby appeared to be furious but also a bit confused over the gaffe-filled effort he and his teammates offered.

“It’s up to us to execute,” Crosby said sternly. “Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. You look at tonight, it’s not Xs and Os, it’s not the system. It’s just mistakes.

“Mistakes that are going to cost you.”

Mistakes have bedeviled the Penguins throughout a sputtering 2022-23 season. And as they enter a lengthy nine-day respite between their bye week and the league’s break for the All-Star Game event on Feb. 3 and 4, miscues have been, arguably, the defining trait of the Penguins to this point of the campaign.

“Some nights, I think we’re forcing things,” Crosby said. “Other nights, we make a mental mistake. It’s not consistently the same thing. All of those add up and end up in the back of our net. We’ve got to solve it.”

There was plenty to solve in Saturday’s sloppy setback almost from the start as the Sharks took a lead only 1:25 into regulation.

Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic banked the puck to the end boards where Sharks forward Logan Couture corralled it. As Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry applied pressure, Couture was able to flick a clever backhand pass to the slot for forward Michael Eyssimont. With Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin late in attempting a poke check, Eyssimont leaned down and snapped a wrister past goaltender Casey DeSmith’s blocker for his third goal of the season. Couture and Vlasic had assists.

A pair of first period power play goals put the Penguins in the lead.

First, Malkin tied the game with his 18th goal at the 5:45 mark. From the left circle of the offensive zone, Crosby lifted a wrister that struck Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, stationed just to the left of the crease. On the rebound, Rakell furiously fended off Sharks defenseman Matt Benning and Couture then managed to shuffle a forehand across the front of the blue paint for Malkin who jabbed in a forehand shot over goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen’s left skate. Rakell and Crosby claimed assists.

Crosby’s team-leading 24th goal at the 12:55 mark put the Penguins in front. Accepting a pass above the right circle of the offensive zone, Malkin gripped and ripped a wrister at the cage that clunked off the far post. Sneaking in from the left wing, Crosby maintained concentration on the rebound and gently tapped in a forehand shot behind a beleaguered Kahkonen. Assists went to Malkin and Guentzel.

A last-second goal (almost literally) tied the game, 2-2, at 19:53 of the second period.

After Penguins defenseman Kris Letang broke up a pass attempt in his own left circle but could not corral the rebound, Sharks forward Alexander Barabanov claimed the puck and coolly slid a pass to the front of the crease where Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson jabbed in a forehand shot past DeSmith’s left skate for his 16th goal. The lone assist was tallied by Barabanov.

The Sharks reclaimed a lead, 3-2, 4:54 into the second period.

After a neutral zone turnover by Malkin, Couture claimed possession and gained the offensive zone on the left wing then surged through checks by Petry and Rakell before putting a bad-angle wrister on net from the left circle. After DeSmith spit out a rebound above the crease, Sharks forward Noah Gregor followed up on the sequence by burying the puck behind a scrambling DeSmith with a forehand shot for his third goal. Couture had the only assist.

A short-handed goal by Penguins forward Ryan Poehling tied the game again, 3-3, at 14:54 of the second period.

Intercepting a rim attempt by the Sharks in his own right corner, Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin held onto the puck for a few moments before firing a daring but brilliant cross-ice stretch pass up the right wing for Poehling, allowing him to generate a two-on-one rush with Penguins forward Brock McGinn against Couture. As Couture took away the passing lane, Poehling elected to shoot and ripped a wrister through Kahkonen’s five hole for his fifth goal. Dumoulin netted the lone assist.

Only 2:07 after that, the Sharks took back the lead, 4-3.

From the right half wall of the Penguins’ zone, Couture slid a pass to the right point for Barabanov who whacked an off-balance slapper that sailed through a phalanx of bodies and sticks then beat the blocker of DeSmith who broke his stick by slamming it on the ice in frustration. Couture and Benning claimed assists.

Malkin tied the game once again at 10:06 with his second goal of the contest. After Kahkonen tried to play a puck away from his own crease, Petry intercepted the puck in the right circle and dished it to Malkin who lifted a wrister over Kahkonen’s left shoulder on the near side. Petry had the solitary assist.

Poor puck management led to the winning goal at 15:35 of the third by Couture.

Pushing play up from the defensive blue line, Penguins rookie defenseman P.O Joseph misfired on a pass attempt to Crosby at the center red line and the puck wound up on the stick of Vlasic. From in front of the visiting penalty box, Vlasic jabbed the puck back to the Penguins’ blue line for Barabanov, who created a disjointed two-on-one rush with Couture against Petry. As Petry did what he could to steer the play wide on the left wing, Barabanov slipped a slick backhand pass to the crease for Couture whose one-timer was initially denied by DeSmith. Rakell hustled on a backcheck but ended up running into DeSmith, causing the puck to go into the cage. Couture was credited with his 18th goal off assists from Barabanov and Vlasic.

An empty net goal by Couture at 19:50 of the final frame secured victory. Karlsson had the only assist.

DeSmith made 26 saves on 31 shots as his record fell to 7-10-4 while his team concluded January with a 5-5-3 mark.

“Obviously, as the season gets to the last stretch and in the playoffs, teams are really good defensively,” Letang said. “They don’t give you much. So, you can not win just by scoring goals. You have to be able to defend and play a strong system. We have to pick it up.”

Their coach suggested he plans to do plenty of heavy lifting once the team regathers following its break.

“It starts with me,” Sullivan said. “I’ve got to do a better job of coaching these guys and getting it out of them and making sure that the message is being heard. We’ve got to learn through the experiences.”

The Penguins’ most common experience through their first 49 games of 2022-23 has been one of inconsistency.

That’s a bad formula for the type of success the Penguins claim they are in pursuit of.

“You’re not going to win consistently,” Crosby said. “That’s the bottom line. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to find a way to solve it.”

Notes:

• Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson recorded his second fighting major of the season at 7:49 of the second period when he tangled with Sharks forward Jonah Gadjovich, one of the NHL’s more prolific fighters as he has eight fighting majors on his resume this season.

Pettersson doesn’t fight often. But when he does, he goes after big targets.

His only two fights this season have been against the player with the most fighting majors this season (Nicolas Deslauriers, nine) and the second-most (Gadjovich).

• Crosby (1,469 points) surpassed legendary Chicago Blackhawks forward Stan Mikita (1,467) for 15th place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• Couture (33 years, 306 days) recorded a five-point game and became the third-oldest player in NHL history to do that against the Penguins.

His “elders” include:

Washington Capitals forward Tommy Williams (34 years, 354 days) had six points (two goals, four assists) in an 8-4 win at the Civic Arena on April 6, 1975.

And Boston Bruins forward John Bucyk (34 years, 222 days) recorded five points (two goals, three assists) in a 6-4 win at the Boston Garden on Dec. 20, 1969.

• DeSmith appeared in 10 games in January and finished with a 3-4-2 record. He matched his career high for games in a month. He previously appeared in 10 games in both November and December of 2018.

• Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman (healthy), rookie forward Jonathan Gruden (healthy) and goaltender Tristan Jarry (undisclosed injury) were scratched.

• Penguins reserve goaltender Dustin Tokarski was able to dress as the backup on Saturday after missing the morning skate while attending to his wife who had given birth to their daughter on Friday.

• Former Penguins defenseman Scott Harrington was a healthy scratch for the Sharks.