PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins (14-8-8) hit rock bottom Saturday in their woes against the extra attacker. They allowed four third period goals in less than 11 minutes against the San Jose Sharks San Jose Sharks (16-14-3) and a safe and cozy Penguins 5-1 lead became an inexplicable, mystifying 6-5 overtime loss at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins set a low water mark in catostrophic collapses. The Penguins scored four unanswered goals through the second period into the third, but San Jose returned fire, scoring four unanswered in 10:49 late into the third period to force overtime.

And then the Penguins did the unimaginable. They had blown three three-goal leads in November, winning one, but Saturday was more than a gut punch, it was a roundhouse kick.

San Jose’s comeback, or the Penguins collapse was nearly complete at 17:32 when San Jose phenom Macklin Celebrini poked a rebound past Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs to pull within 5-4.

Then, one minute later, the unthinkable was reality as Tyler Toffoli tied the game at 18:32.

And John Klingberg scored the winner in overtime. And the storyline echoed loudly as the Penguins punted yet another win by giving up a pair of goals against the extra attacker to allow overtime and failed to finish OT chances.

Stunning might be the only word if combined with a few unprintable utterances to describe the meltdown.

Sidney Crosby tallied a power play goal and an assist, moving to within two points of tying and three of breaking the franchise’s all-time points record held by Mario Lemieux (1723).

Things looked good in the second period.

With a yell and a stick twirl, winger Rutger McGroarty launched the Penguins second period attack. It was they who smelled blood in the water, not the Sharks.

With the score tied 1-1 after the first period, McGroarty (1) had one good chance in the opening seconds, but on the subsequent rush, sniped a top-shelf wrister from the back of the left circle at just 0:19 of the second.

The Penguins kept attacking. In the middle of the period, Noel Acciari pounced on a loose puck in the slot, sliding a pass to Kevin Hayes on the left side of the net. Hayes (3) easily snapped it into the yawning cage for a 3-1 lead at 9:42.

And in the final seconds, the Penguins power play reached the crescendo of the game. With intensity, the retreived loose pucks and blitzed San Jose until Crosby slipped a pass to Bryan Rust in the slot. Rust (10) ripped it past beleagured San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov at 19:53.

The second period was a measure of power as the Penguins outmuscled young San Jose, kept the puck and let loose dangerous shots. In the middle 20 minutes, the Penguins outshot San Jose 22-6 and had dominating 4-1 lead.

The Penguins were immediately better Saturday than in their hapless loss to the Montreal Canadiens Thursday, but they were not first to the scoreboard. Goalie Arturs Silovs lost the shot from the top of the zone by Tyler Toffoli, and the 59-foot wrist shot sailed by Silovs at 10:27 of the first period.

However, later in the first period, the Penguins spent just eight seconds on the power play. Sidney Crosby (19) inched to within three points of Lemieux when he quickly tapped a rebound past Askarov at 12:41.

San Jose’s transition game earned a few rush chances in the first 30 minutes, and Will Smith had a breakaway after serving a two-minute minor for hooking at 15:01 of the second, but Silovs made the save.

In fact, Silovs redeemed his early miss with a pair of breakaway saves and a few other tough saves before the Penguins seized commanding control.

After 40 minutes, the Penguins were outshooting San Jose 34-13.

Anthony Mantha added a power play goal from the crease at 5:25 of the third period. It was his third point (1-2-3), and third power play point in the game.

With a mid-third-period 5v3 power play, San Jose added a goal when defenseman John Klingberg beat Silovs at 7:33.

To make things a little more spicy in the final minutes, after Silovs made a diving stop on Alex Wennberg, William Eklund (8) finished the rebound to pull San Jose within 5-3 at 14:19.

And then San Jose scored a pair with the extra attacker.

Penguins Notes, Lines

Newly acquired Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak were not available Saturday as they have not yet received work visas for the U.S.

The Penguins activated Rickard Rakell, Friday. He missed 20 games with an upper-body injury.

Coach Dan Muse juggled his lines with Rakell’s return:

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Rutger McGroarty-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau

Ville Koivunen-Tommy Novak-Anthony Mantha

Connor Dewar-Kevin Hayes-Noel Acciari

Defense

Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Shea-Kris Letang

Ryan Graves-Connor Clifton

Tags: Penguins game Penguins lines Pittsburgh Penguins San Jose Sharks Sidney Crosby

Categorized: Penguins Postgame