Los Angeles (AFP) – The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Sharks 3-1 in San Jose to move within one victory of capturing their fourth Stanley Cup championship.
The Penguins on Monday used their suffocating speed to overcome the Sharks, taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven NHL championship series.
Pittsburgh will have a chance to seal the title when they host game five on Thursday.
The Penguins opened the scoring for the fourth straight game, when defenseman Ian Cole threw a Phil Kessel rebound past Sharks goalie Martin Jones at 7:36 of the opening period.
The goal not only was Cole’s first of the playoffs, but his first in 105 games, including regular season and playoffs.
Pittsburg’s Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal of the series and fifth of the playoffs nine seconds after Melker Karlsson of the Sharks was sent off for interference at 2:28 of the second period.
Karlsson spoiled Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray’s shutout bid with his fourth goal of the playoffs, picking up a rebound of Brenden Dillon’s blocked shot and beating Murray to make it 2-1 at 8:07 of the third.
But Eric Fehr scored his third goal of the playoffs for the Penguins at 17:58 of the final frame to send Pittsburgh home with a commanding series lead.
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