Rookie John Ludvig had the go-ahead goal in the third plus an assist Thursday as the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the visiting San Jose Sharks 6-3.
Noel Acciari, Jeff Carter, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust also scored, and Drew O’Connor and Pierre-Olivier Joseph each had two assists for the Penguins, who had lost four straight (0-3-1).
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 29 saves.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Klim Kostin each had a goal and an assist, Fabian Zetterlund also scored, and Mikael Granlund added two assists for the Sharks, who are on a 1-9-2 slide.
San Jose goaltender Magnus Chrona made 25 saves.
Acciari gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 10:28 of the first. From the low slot, he tipped in a shot by Erik Karlsson.
Less than a minute later, Rust swatted in a loose puck in the crease, but it was ruled no goal because the whistle had blown.
Zetterlund tied it 1-1 with his team-leading 17th goal at 14:31 of the first.
With 59 seconds left in the first, Vlasic gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead with a fluky goal. He hit the puck to the front of the net from the left corner, and it deflected in off Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson.
Carter tied it 2-2 at 4:11 of the second off a rebound of Emil Bemstrom’s wraparound attempt.
Pittsburgh took a 3-2 lead at 11:34 of the second. Malkin, from near the right post, put a rebound in off Chrona’s pads.
With 2:53 left in the second, San Jose’s Alex Barabanov deflected the puck in, but it was ruled no goal because he used a high stick.
Kostin got his first goal with the Sharks to tie it 3-3 with 1:18 left in the second on a one-timer from the low slot.
At 2:38 of the third, Ludvig scored on a screened shot from the left point to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead.
Two minutes later, the Penguins went up 5-3 when Joseph’s shot went in off Rakell’s skate.
Rust added an empty-netter with 1:56 left.
–Field Level Media
