SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks played some of their best hockey of the season on a recently completed road trip but were unable to sustain that momentum in their first game at home in close to a month.
The Sharks allowed even-strength goals to Rickard Rakell and Jake Guentzel and had trouble solving goalie Casey DeSmith in a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at SAP Center. Sidney Crosby assisted on all three of Pittsburgh’s goals and now has 19 points in 20 career regular-season games against the Sharks.
DeSmith made 27 saves in the first two periods, including three on two Penguins power plays, as the Sharks dropped to 5-13-7 on home ice this season. The Sharks’ last home game before Tuesday was Jan. 18 against the Dallas Stars.
The Sharks played eight straight road games from Jan. 21 to Sunday and beat Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Washington along the way to help go 3-3-2. Their 4-1 win over the Capitals on Sunday represented their first victory by three goals or more since Jan. 1 in Chicago.
But that first game back at home after a road trip of any length has been a trouble spot for the Sharks all season, as they now have a 1-8-2 mark in such games this season.
Goalie Aaron Dell, making his first NHL start since Dec. 4, finished with 24 saves for San Jose, who travel to play the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. The Sharks are 12-14-4 on the road this season.
Dell made the start after both James Reimer and Kaapo Kahkonen were ruled out. Reimer is under the weather, per Sharks coach David Quinn, and Kahkonen suffered an upper-body injury in the second period of Sunday’s game after he was hit in the head by Evgeny Kuznetsov’s leg.
Kahkonen skated Tuesday morning but Eetu Makiniemi was recalled from the Barracuda in the afternoon to back up Dell.
MILESTONE: Logan Couture on Tuesday became the fifth Shark to play in at least 900 games for the team, joining Patrick Marleau (1,607), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (1,215), Joe Thornton (904) and Joe Pavelski (963) on that list. Couture, drafted ninth overall by the Sharks in 2007, is fourth on the Sharks’ all-time points list with 677, and is just the ninth player from his draft class to reach 900 games.
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