Sharks hand Penguins 6th straight loss, 5-0

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Evander Kane had a goal and an assist, Martin Jones made 30 saves in his 24th career shutout and the San Jose Sharks sent the Pittsburgh Penguins to their first six-game losing streak in eight years with a 5-0 victory on Saturday night.

Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Timo Meier and Joel Kellman also scored to give the Sharks back-to-back wins following a five-game losing streak.

The Penguins have been outscored 24-8 during their first six-game skid since the 2011-12 season when Sidney Crosby was sidelined by an injury. All the losses have come in regulation as Pittsburgh has fallen from first place to third in the Metropolitan Division.

The Penguins even went winless on a California swing against the bottom three teams in the Western Conference, having lost to Los Angeles and Anaheim earlier in the week.

The Sharks jumped on top late in the first period when Marc-Edouard Vlasic fed Kane with a stretch pass for a breakaway. Kane split two defenders and beat Tristan Jarry for his 22nd goal of the season.

San Jose then struck twice in a span of just more three minutes in the second period with Meier scoring from the circle just after a penalty to Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson ended and then Kellman following with another from a similar spot in transition.

Things got a little heated shortly after that between San Jose defenseman Radim Simek and Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist. Simek even pushed a linesman after the run-in but there was no additional penalty handed out for that infraction.

Couture and Thornton added goals in the the third period.

The game provided a homecoming for longtime Sharks star Patrick Marleau, who was traded on Monday to Pittsburgh for a conditional 2021 draft pick.

The 40-year-old Marleau played 1,551 games for the Sharks but was traded away for a chance to win his first Stanley Cup with San Jose out of contention. Marleau said before the game he could envision returning to San Jose next season when he would have a chance to break Gordie Howe’s career record for games played.

Marleau got a warm ovation during a stoppage of play in the first period by an appreciative crowd that included his wife and four children, who wore their new Penguins No. 12 jerseys for the occasion.

NOTES: Sharks D Jacob Middleton left with an apparent left leg injury in the third period. … Linesman Tony Sericolo left the game late in the first after being clipped by Sharks F Noah Gregor near the boards. Sericolo returned in the second period. … Penguins D Brian Dumoulin and John Marino, and F Nick Bjugstad all skated before the game but remain sidelined.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host Ottawa on Tuesday.

Sharks: Host Toronto on Tuesday.