Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Saturday, in a close, fast contest. The Sharks’ goals came from Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl. The Penguins’ lone goal came from Conor Sheary.

Aaron Dell made 31 saves for the Sharks. Dell has been stellar as backup this season, but due to an injury to regular starter Martin Jones, Dell will start again tomorrow in Anaheim. “That’s what I’m here for, ” Dell said during his postgame interview. “If they need me for three more games, they need me for one game, I’ve just got to take it as it comes.”

Casey DeSmith made 34 saves in a losing effort to Pittsburgh.

Two days ago in Colorado, the Sharks lost 5-3 after a slow start that put them in a hole they fought to get out of.

Taking the positives from that game into Saturday was vital. After Saturday’s win, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

I thought we played a real solid game. That’s a real good team, obviously and we picked up where we left off at the end of the Colorado game. I thought we really got on our toes and battled and played a real solid sixty minutes.

The Penguins started the scoring early with a Conor Sheary goal at 3:31. He caught Dominik Simon’s pass from behind the net and had a clear shot at the net. Assists went to Simon and Sidney Crosby.

It took the Sharks most of the period to get that goal back but Timo Meier tied it up at 17:44. Brent Burns made a pass from the Sharks’ zone that Joe Pavelski caught near the opposite blue line. Pavelski pulled up just across the line and sent the puck across the ice to Timo Meier, getting by three Pittsburgh defenders. Meier took a quick shot and beat DeSmith over the left pad. Assists went to Pavelski and Burns.

The Sharks outshot the Penguins 14-8 in the first.

Burns went to the box for tripping, giving the Pens a second power play at 2:12 of the second. The Sharks cleared the puck four times while killing the penalty. They came out of it and earned their own power play less than two minutes later. The Sharks were unable to get through the neutral zone for the first 50 seconds, but once they got through, they were there to stay and created a couple of chances. The power play was cut short when Dylan Demelo was called for hooking.

As the teams transitioned from a 4-on-4 to a Penguins power play, Chris Tierney and Joonas Donskoi held the puck in the Penguins’ zone, taking a bite out of the Penguins’ power play time. As the Demelo penalty wound down, the Penguins did make a good push and Dell had to make few stops, including a point-blank shot from Evgeni Malkin.

Kevin Labanc had a very good chance near the 10-minute mark when he scooped up a rebound and took a shot before DeSmith could reset. He tried to push it under DeSmith’s pads, but the Penguins goaltender closed the gap with a glove and made the save.

Sheary caught a Burns shot in his forearm and left the ice with 5:08 left in the second.

Through the second period, the Penguins had the advantage in shots, 16-11.

Joonas Donskoi drew a cross-checking penalty to give the Sharks a power play at 1:49 of the third. In the offensive zone, Pavelski won the first faceoff of the power play and Burns took the puck to the point. Pavelski redirected Burns’ shot, but it did not get through. Tomas Hertl was on the doorstep to grab the loose puck and push it through at 1:53. Assists went to Pavelski and Burns.

The Sharks kept the pressure on for the next several minutes. Labanc had a nice breakaway chance at the 11:39 mark, but DeSmith was up to the challenge.

The next dozen minutes of play looked like a track meet with nearly constant movement up and down the ice, pausing only for one-and-done’s at both ends. Hardly a whistle blew and the puck rarely stopped. In all that, the Sharks were outshooting the Pens 11-6, with only one of those coming on that very short power play.

The speed of that stretch and most of the third period was remarkable. “They’re a fast team,” said DeBoer. “They play fast and I thought we did too tonight. It was a good hockey game, I thought it had a playoff feel to it.”

The game did not slow down much after the television break. Tensions erupted after Patric Hornqvist cross-checked Hertl. Hertl reciprocated and that led to more jostling, and finally, a cross-check from Malkin put him in the box. Hertl also sat with just over three minutes left. The Penguins pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker.

The Sharks had several chances at the open net, but had to settle for the 2-1 win.

Hertl was very happy after the game, saying that it was “was a really good game for all three periods, all four lines. Deller he played really great in net, you know he saved a lot of chances and it’s a huge point against a team that is really hot now.”

Up Next: The Sharks next play on Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 6:00 pm PT.