The San Jose Sharks rallied for an improbable win Saturday, scoring four times in the third period before defenseman John Klingberg scored at the 2:57 mark of overtime in a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
With the Sharks trailing 5-1, John Klingberg and William Eklund scored just under seven minutes apart to cut the Penguins’ lead to 5-3 with 5:41 left in regulation time.
Then, with Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov pulled for the extra attacker, Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli scored goals 50 seconds apart, with Toffoli’s goal with 1:38 left in the third period tying the game 5-5.
On the game-winner, Klingberg took the puck across the Penguins’ blue line, eluded a check, and worked a give-and-go with Celebrini, as he took a return pass and fired a shot past Arturs Silovs for his seventh goal of the season, silencing the crowd of 17,059 at PPG Paints Arena.
Toffoli had two goals and two assists, Alexander Wennberg and Celebrini each had three points, and Askarov finished with 38 saves as the Sharks finished their five-game road trip in the most remarkable fashion.
Wingers Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev both left the game with injuries.
Kurashev left the game midway through the second period after crashing hard into the end boards in the Penguins’ zone. Smith was hurt with 16:30 left in the third period, as he was hit into the boards by Pittsburgh defenseman Parker Wotherspoon in the Penguins’ zone.
Smith immediately began to skate off the ice and threw off one of his gloves as he clutched his right arm before he reached the bench.
Right after the hit, Sharks center Macklin Celebrini went after Wotherspoon, with both players falling to the ice to start a brief melee.
Smith and Kurashev began the game on the Sharks’ top line with Celebrini. Smith is the Sharks’ second-leading scorer with 29 points in 32 games before Saturday, and Kurashev had 15 points in 30 games.
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