By Matthew T.F. Harrington
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Despite a woeful record, the Pittsburgh Penguins are a team that boasts an offense that can hurt you if they get the right bounces. Tuesday night at the SAP Center, San Jose Sharks netminder Martin Jones and company had their share of bad luck in a 5-1 loss to the Pens. The Penguins picked up their first win in NorCal since 1997.
“You earn your puck luck,” said Sharks winger Tommy Wingels. “Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re not. It happens. We’ve gotten our fair share of the bounces this year so we’ll look to create more opportunities for ourselves.”
“I thought we played pretty well at some times,” said Jones. “We did some good things. It didn’t feel like a 5-1 hockey game.”
While Patrick Marleau scored a power play goal for the surging Sharks special teams unit, the Penguins (14-8-2) countered with goals from every member of their top line. 2003 first round pick Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves to hand the Eastern Conference squad a win over their Western Conference opponents.
“Pittsburgh was hungry tonight,” said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. “You have to give them credit for coming into here and getting the job done.”
Jones surrendered a trio of goals on the unlucky side to put the Sharks (14-10-0) down 3-0 starting with a quick strike just 2:30 into the game.
Pittsburgh left wing Phil Kessel circled behind the net looking for a centering pass. Instead, the puck bounced off Paul Martin’s skate and changed direction to the near post. Jones moved off the right post, having the puck graze off his right pad and in for Kessel’s 8th goal of the season.
“That first one was tough, off my skate,” said Martin. “No excuses, we made some of our own opportunities for chances to score some goals.”
Matt Cullen netted his second goal of the season and the second goal of the game 4:40 into the second period. Defenseman Brian Dumolin fired a slap shot on Jones that the net minder saved away to his right side. Cullen picked up the loose puck right outside the crease, sneaking it past Jones as he switched off his right leg a little early preparing to push to his left.
“It was a couple tough bounces,” said Jones. “That’s the way it goes. In the games sometimes we’ve had some good bounces sometimes. They tend to even out after a while.”
All-World talent Evgeni Malkin made Jones, as he has many a goalie, pay for his over-commitment just under two minutes later. The Russian rocket came skating down the left side of the ice, forcing Jones wide out of his crease. Malkin then circled back to his right, sneaking a puck into the vacant net for his 12th goal of the year.
“I overplayed the shot a little bit,” said Jones. “And he’s a good player that made a nice play to take it out in front of the net.”
While Jones had his share of struggles at one end of the ice, Marc-Andre Fleury continued his season of dominance with a near-perfect performance at the other end. Despite seeing 34 shots, the man known as “Flower” wilted only once. Fleury yielded his share of rebounds, but the Penguins managed to clear out any loose pucks.
The Sharks beat Fleury with their recently red-hot power play. After not scoring a power play marker in the first 8 home games of the season, San Jose has found the back of the net 4 times with the man advantage over its last 3 games at SAP. Tuesday night it was Patrick Marleau scoring his 10th goal of the season.
With California native Beau Bennett sitting for a roughing penalty, Marleau fired a snap shot past Fleury 4:25 from the second intermission to get San Jose on the board. The Sharks nearly struck twice, after Tommy Wingels crashed the net and poked a loose puck past the Penguins keeper. The referee positioned behind the cage gave the “wash-out” gesture signifying no goal.
“That was a big shift there,” said Wingels. “You think you have a goal, then you don’t. These guys make the calls that they think are right.”
DeBoer challenged the play, but after review it was deemed that there was enough contact by Wingels for the call on the ice to stand.
“That was a critical turning point,” said DeBoer. “We could have gotten rolling there 3-2. We’re still unsure how the decision was made based on my views of it but that’s all part of it.”
“It’s tough,” said Jones. “On video replay it looks different than what the refs see in the game. I don’t think it’s been an issue. We’ve had calls go both ways.”
David Perron iced the game in the third period after San Jose was caught with too many men on the ice. The Pittsburgh forward notched the power play strike 8:42 into the final period. Kessel then potted the empty netter with 4:06 left to play. In total Jones made 24 saves on 28 shots.
“We kept working, we kept battling,” said DeBoer. “The feeling on the bench was, right up until they got the empty netter, we could still get back into the game.”
The Sharks will hope for a rebound by Jones and when they travel to the friendly of the road in Anaheim Friday night then welcome Stanley Cup Finalists Tampa Bay on Saturday hoping for more power plays.
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