Pittsburgh Penguins: Lessons Learned vs. San Jose
By Rob Joncas
The Pittsburgh Penguins hope to close out their California road swing with a victory against the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 29, 2020.
The Pittsburgh Penguins chose the wrong time of year to start a downward sprial. Pittsburgh is currently riding a 5 game losing streak and have lost control of second place in the Metropolitan divison to the Philidelphia Flyers.
While there have been some positives developing through the past couple of games, the Penguins need to capitalize on their chances, and find a way to ignite their compete level to match the opposing teams.
With point races tighting up and lower seeded teams making a push to the promised land, the Penguins need to start grinding out some wins.
While we wait to see I the streak ends tonight, here is today’s history lesson.
Season Series
The Penguins and Sharks have laced up for 42 games since San Jose joined the league in 1991.
The last time the two clubs met was on Jan. 2, 2020, which resulted in a 3-2 overtime loss for Pittsburgh.
Currently, the series is deadlocked with each team owning 17 wins, with the cumulative record for the Penguins sitting at 17-17-5-3.
First Game Frenzy
The first game between the two clubs occurred on Dec. 5, 1991, which resulted in an 8-0 win for Pittsburgh.
Mario Lemieux scored 2 goals and 6 points, as Paul Coffey and Mark Recchi each collected four points. Tom Barrasso made 39 saves for the shutout.
The Sharks used three goalies during the game, Brian Heyward (3), Jeff Hackett (1), and Arturs Irbe (4)
Leading Scorers
Evgeni Malkin is the regular-season scoring leader with 7 goals and 14 points in 17 games played (GP) versus San Jose. Sidney Crosby takes second place with 3 goals and 11 points in 15 GP. Patric Hornqvist – 7 points, Kris Letang – 5 points, and Bryan Rust – 5 points, round out the top 5 Penguins scorers.
Leading Goaltenders
Matt Murray is the regular season with a record of 2-1-0 in 3 GP and a goals-against-average (GAA) of 2.03, with one shutout. Tristan Jarry ranks second with a record of 0-1-0 and a GAA of 2.90 and Casey DeSmith is 0-2-0 in two appearances vs. San Jose with a GAA of 3.06
Student Becomes the Teacher
Two-decades before Mike Sullivan would take over the head coaching reigns of the Penguins, he started his playing career with the Sharks.
Sullivan spent three seasons in San Jose, collecting 16 goals and 37 points in 171 GP from 1991-1994. He appeared in four games against Pittsburgh while with the Sharks and registered zero points.
Enemy Lines
Here are a few players that have crossed enemy lines during their careers:
Peter Ahola, Bobby Dollas, Christian Ehrhoff, Bob Errey, Eric Fehr, Marcel Goc, Bill Guerin, Alex Hicks