Tag: Bryan Rust

Sharks Score four in 3rd, Beat Penguins 6-5 in OT

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

The San Jose Sharks Mackline Celebrini (71) gives a hug to John Klingberg (3) as the Pittsburgh Penguins Sid Crosby (87) skates off the ice at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Sat Dec 13, 2025 (San Jose Sharks X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks recovered from a third period 5-1 deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 in overtime Saturday. Tyler Toffoli, John Klingberg, Willliam Eklund and Macklin Celebrini scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves for the win. Sidney Crosby. Rutger McRoarty, Kevin Hayes, Bryan Rust and Anthony Mantha scored for the Penguins. Arturs Silovs made 26 saves in the loss.

With their four-goal comeback, the Sharks displayed a ferocious calm that brought to mind their namesakes. They also made the biggest third period comeback in franchise history. “I think we just did a great job just kinda staying with it, playing as a team, playing up and down our lineup, even when we kinda got those injuries. It was a group effort,” said Macklin Celebrini after the game.

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “Credit to that group in there. They were extremely resilient, tough road trip. To finish that road trip like this in that type of game? That is impressive.”

Tyler Toffoli scored the first goal of the game at 10:27. His wrist shot came from the blue line, into the far side of the net. Assists went to Sam Dickinson and Alexander Wennberg.

Sidney Crosby tied it on the power play at 12:41. His with shot came from right in front of the net. Assists went to Anthony Mantha and Bryan Rust.

Rutger McGroarty gave Pittsburgh the lead at 00:19 of the second. McGroarty gathered up the puck in the neutral zone and skated in for a wrist shot. Assists went to Ben Kindel and Kris Letang.

Kevin Hayes padded the lead with a wrist shot behind Aslarov at 9:42. Assists went to N Acciari and C Dewar.

Bryan Rust made it 4-1 with a slap shot on the power play at 19:53. Assists went to Crosby and Mantha.

Midway through the second period, Phillip Kurashev was injured and left the game.

Early in the third period, Will Smith took a hit from Parker Wotherspoon. Smith went right to the dressing room. Macklin Celebrini responded with some rough stuff that landed him in the penalty box for four minutes.

Mantha scored another power play goal at 5:25 of the third period. His shot came from in close with a scrum at the net. Assists went to Rust and Eric Karlsson.

John Klingberg cut the Penguin lead by one with a power play goal at 7:33. His wrist shot came from the top of the faceoff circle into the far side. Assists went to Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund.

William Eklund made it 5-3 by poking the puck under Silovs at 17:32. Alexander Wennberg and A Gaudette got the assists.

Continuing the climb back in the game, Macklin Celebrini scored with a slap shot at 17:42. Toffoli and Collin Graf got the assists.

Tyler Toffoli tied the game with his second of the game at 18:22. Toffoli’s shot came from close in front of the net and into traffic. Assists went to Wennberg and Celebrini.

John Klingberg scored the OT winner at 2:57 of the extra period. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf. After the game, Macklin Celebrini was asked about why he passed back instead of shooting. He said: “He gave me a chance like that earlier and I didn’t score so I felt like I had to give it back to him.” Celebrini chuckled.

Neither Kurashev nor Smith returned to the game. There was no update after the game about either player.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in San Jose against the Calgary Flames at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-3 in SO to Penguins, Come Back From 3-0 to Tie Game, Again

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Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Rust (17) celebrates his goal with Evgeni Malkin (71), Jack St Ivany (3) and Michael Bunting (8) first period against the San Jose Sharks at PPG Pants in Pittsburgh on Sat Nov 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday. Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Jesse Puljujarvi and Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins. Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund scored for the Sharks. Vitek Vanacek made 8 saves on ten shots in the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves on 26 shots in the second, third and overtime periods.

The Sharks earned points in three games in this four game road trip. Of this tally, Tyler Toffoli said: “We’re staying in games and giving ourselves a chance to win. It’s a matter of time before we are able to play with leads and finish games off.”

The Sharks have made some impressive comebacks recently. Of this trend, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“Credit to the guys, we stuck with it. It’s a hole we don’t want to be in and we’re in it too often right now. But I give the guys a lot of credit for battling back and getting a point in this game where it wasn’t looking pretty for a long time. We’ve got to look and find some ways to start on time.”

Blackwood said that he had about five minutes to prepare to get in the game. “It’s tough, you know. Obviously you’re cold and you have no feel of the game so you gotta go in there and get into the game quick. Typically, I struggle with that, I’ve struggled to come off the bench and put up a good performance. So I’ve been working on it.”

Warsofsky said, of his goaltenders: “I haven’t gotten an update yet on Vitek, just told he wasn’t coming back. Outstanding by Blackwood. Some of the best saves you’ll see in this League this year I assume.”

The Penguins scored just 1:01 into the first period. Bryan Rust carried the puck up from behind the net and backhanded it under Vitek Vanacek. Assists went to Michael Bunting and Evgeni Malkin.

Evgeni Malkin put the puck in the net at 5:46. Carrying the puck in, he cut across the slot and shot the puck off the post and in with a backhand. The Sharks challenged the goal as offside and the goal was overturned.

Jesse Puljujarvi got that goal back at 6:34. Drew O’Connor took a shot from the boards, and the rebound from that shot slid in front of Puljujarvi as he arrived at the net. Vanacek could not get across in time and Puljujarvi had an open net. A secondary assist went to Owen Pickering.

The teams were tied in shots at the end of the first period at 10-10. The Penguins took the only penalty of the period. Vanacek did not return for the second period due to injury. Blackwood stepped in.

Sidney Crosby made it 3-0 at 4:19 of the second with a shot through traffic from the point. Assists went to Erik Karlsson and Anthony Beauvillier.

Tyler Toffoli got the Sharks on the board with a power play goal at 12:05 of the second. Will Smith got the assist. Macklin Celebrini carried the puck into the zone but his pass was intercepted. Will Smith got the puck back and sent it to the net. Toffoli arrived at the net just in time to gather up the puck and score.

The Penguins outshot the Sharks 10-7 in the second period. The Sharks had two power plays and one shortened penalty kill in the period.

Mikael Granlund cut the lead to one goal at 6:56 of the third period. William Eklund made a pass off the boards to Fabian Zetterlund in the neutral zone. Zetterlund carried it over the blue line and made a cross-ice pass to Granlund, who caught the puck in the slot and shot without breaking stride.

Tyler Toffoli tied the game with his second goal of the night. Ty Dellandrea carried the puck in along the boards before finding Toffoli on his way to the net. Toffoli skated around several defenders to get in position for the shot. Assists went to Dellandrea and Jake Wallman.

Third period shots were close again, 11-10 Sharks. The Penguins took the only penalty in the period. In overtime, the Penguins dominated 6-1 in shots but Blackwood shut the door.

Mikael Granlund and William Eklund scored in the shootout. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Alexander Wennberg were stopped by Nedeljkovic.

Sidney Crosby, Anthony Beauvillier and Evgeni Malkin scored in the shootout. Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell were stopped by Blackwood.

The Sharks next play on Monday back in San Jose against the visiting Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 PM PT.