Casey DeSmith makes 38 saves, Penguins beat Sharks 3-1

SAN JOSE — Casey DeSmith made 38 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Tuesday night.

The Penguins’ top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell each had three points. Crosby reached 41 assists on the season.

Timo Meier scored his 31st goal late in the third period for the Sharks. Aaron Dell made 24 saves in his third start for San Jose this season. He has yet to earn a win.

Erik Karlsson and Alexander Barabanov both had their four-game point streaks snapped.

Pittsburgh took the lead early, with Rakell jumping on a juicy rebound 5:52 into the first period for his 19th goal of the season.

In the second period, Crosby faked out the entire arena by going behind the net and throwing a no-look backhand pass to Guentzel, who had a wide-open net. It was Guentzel’s 22nd goal of the season.

Meier scored on a rush the full length of the ice and beat DeSmith through the legs with 4:03 to go.

Guentzel added an empty-net goal to seal it.

900 clug

Sharks captain Logan Couture skated in his 900th NHL game, all with San Jose.

Up next

Penguins: At the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Sharks: Visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.