The Pittsburgh Penguins played with the right attitude while snapping a two-game losing streak on Thursday, according to first-year coach Dan Muse.
He will hope to see the same intensity on Saturday when the Penguins wrap up a three-game California road trip with a matchup against the San Jose Sharks.
Pittsburgh improved to 3-2-0 by doubling up the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Thursday night.
“The guys were going over the boards, they went over with something to prove,” Muse said. “They weren’t happy about the way it went there the other night (in Anaheim). They get a new opportunity, and that’s the great thing about this league. If you’re not happy with the results from a night or two ago, you get a new opportunity right around the corner, and I think for the team and for the special teams, they responded really well.”
Pittsburgh’s Filip Hallander notched his first NHL goal while Evgeni Malkin, Connor Dewar and Sidney Crosby also found the back of the net as the Penguins erased a 2-0 deficit.
Hallander, whose goal stood up to be the winner, became the ninth player in Penguins history to score his first career NHL goal short-handed.
“(Rickard Rakell) got a good shot away. I almost had an open net on the rebound. Missed that, then I just jammed the puck with all I could. Happy to see it go in,” said Hallander, who was playing in his seventh career game across three seasons with the Penguins. “It feels good, and I was waiting for it.”
Parker Wotherspoon and Erik Karlsson added two assists each, while goaltender Arturs Silovs made 30 saves to improve to 2-1-0.
Pittsburgh and San Jose split two games last season, with each team winning on home ice.
The Sharks entertain the Penguins on Saturday in the second half of a back-to-back set.
San Jose, returning home following a 6-3 loss to Utah Mammoth on Friday in Salt Lake City, is still searching for its first victory. The Sharks dropped their first two contests in overtime, then lost their past two in regulation.
“We were back on our heels too early. We’ve got to start the opposite and put them back on their heels,” San Jost forward Mario Ferraro said. “Obviously, it’s a road game, but we’ve got to be even tighter in situations like that. I think just playing simple, getting pucks in and getting pucks out is really important.
“For sure, our start wasn’t good enough (Friday).”
Jeff Skinner and Macklin Celebrini each had a goal and an assist and Tyler Toffoli for San Jose, which is the only winless NHL team.
Yaroslav Askarov made 28 saves while falling to 0-1-1 on the season.
“We have to play 60 minutes. We have to play from the first minute of the game,” Askarov said. “Keep working, keep battling, and it’s going to happen. It’s close, I think so.”
Alex Nedeljkovic, San Jose’s likely starter in net on Saturday, is 0-1-1 with a 4.45 goals-against average and an .878 save percentage. In four career games against the Penguins, the former Pittsburgh goalie is 2-1-0 with an .858 save percentage and a 5.07 GAA.
–Field Level Media
