Sharks sneak past Penguins in shootout

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[March 10, 2015]  SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks don't do things the easy way. And Monday night was no different.

Right winger Tommy Wingels scored the deciding shootout goal in the eighth round after teammates killed his late penalty, and the hosts edged Pittsburgh 2-1 on a night when the Penguins flashed their skill in front of 17,336 at SAP Center.

"That point could make a heck of a difference," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "We can't afford to give any away. We've done that too often and too much."

The Penguins were looking to cap a sweep of the three California teams to finish a four-game road trip, but they had to settle for one point on their last stop instead of two.

"In a shootout, anything can happen," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "We played a pretty good game, and we deserved better."

The Sharks, desperate for points to try to climb back into the playoff race, won for the third time in four games. Wingels made that possible by slipping a backhand shot past Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped all but right winger Melker Karlsson among San Jose's first seven shooters.

"When you're sitting on the bench, you think of what you're going to do if your number is called," Wingels said. "I wanted to get a good fake in and go backhand. I think he would be covering the 5-hole after Melker's good move. Fortunately, it went in."

Fortunately, too, for Wingels the game even reached the shootout stage. He tossed a puck over the glass at 19:33 of the third period to give Pittsburgh's talented power play one last chance to win late. Instead, the Sharks killed off the penalty, which turned into a four-on-three advantage once the power play carried over into overtime.

"That's an unfortunate penalty there, but the guys did a heck of a job," Wingels said. "They have quite the four players that go out there on the four-on-three. The PK (penalty killing) hasn't been great of late, but the PK won us a game tonight."

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi had a lot to say about winning this one, too. He stopped 39 of 40 shots during the first 65 minutes, then permitted only a Kris Letang goal in the shootout while thwarting the other seven Pittsburgh shooters.

"I thought Nemo was terrific, maybe his best game of the season," McLellan said. "First saves, second saves, those are some very gifted players.

Shut out through 40 minutes, the Penguins finally got on the board before the midway portion of the final period.

Crosby scored his first career goal against San Jose at 7:22 to tie it, 1-1. The veteran center built speed as he hit the San Jose line, gained half a step on a backchecking Karlsson, then unleashed a backhand shot that found a hole under Niemi's right blocker at the far post.

"The third period was outstanding," Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston said.

The Sharks scored the only goal in the opening period despite the Penguins being in control.

Newcomer Ben Smith stripped Letang behind the Pittsburgh net, where center Chris Tierney fed in front to left winger Matt Nieto. Nieto tipped his seventh goal of the season past Fleury with 56.1 seconds remaining in the period.

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The goal came less than four seconds after San Jose's second power play just expired. The fact Pittsburgh that took two minors in the period was all that stymied the visitors' momentum. The Pens outshot the hosts 15-6 in the period.

"It was nice to get that goal late in the first and come to the intermission with some momentum and confidence going into the second," Nieto said.

The second period was scoreless, but the 20-minute period was not without end-to-end action.

The Sharks bailed out defenseman Justin Braun for two neutral-zone turnovers, one to center Evgeni Malkin that resulted in a stopped shot to cap a two-on-one break, the second to Crosby, who lost the puck before making a play.

The Penguins, with 24 shots through two periods, failed to convert on two middle-period power plays. Despite managing two shots on each advantage, that extended Pittsburgh's struggles on the power play to an eventual 0-for-12 on the trip.

"We came out strong," said Pittsburgh defenseman Derrick Pouliot, who drew iron with a shot in the final 10 seconds of overtime. "We didn't quit. We really stuck with it throughout the entire game. We got that goal in the third and almost won."

Fleury made 29 saves in regulation and overtime.

NOTES: Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby was held scoreless and was a minus-5 during his previous visit to San Jose, a 5-3 win by the Sharks on March 7, 2014. Another Penguins captain, the retired Mario Lemieux, feasted on San Jose during his career. Lemieux scored 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists) during 14 career games against the Sharks. ... San Jose continues a four-game homestand Thursday when the Nashville Predators visit. ... Pittsburgh returns home to face the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. ... The Penguins were without D Christian Ehrhoff (concussion), C Pascal Dupuis (blood clots) and D Olli Maatta (upper body). ... The Sharks continue to miss D Matt Irwin (upper body), RW Mike Brown (leg) and RW Raffi Torres (knee). ... RW Craig Adams was Pittsburgh's lone healthy scratch. ... D Taylor Fedun did not dress for San Jose.

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