Penguins score 10, defeat Sharks in Karlsson’s return to San Jose

Karlsson, who played the previous five seasons with the Sharks, was playing his first game in San Jose since he was acquired by Pittsburgh on Aug. 6. The defenseman had 243 points (52 goals, 191 assists) in 293 games with the Sharks, including 101 last season, when he won the Norris Trophy for the third time (also 2012, 2015).

“It means something a little extra as a player when you come back and play your former team. There’s always something special about it,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.

Reilly Smith and Jake Guentzel each had two goals and two assists, Bryan Rust had a goal and three assists, and Evgeni Malkin scored twice for the Penguins (4-6-0), who had lost two straight. Tristan Jarry made 24 saves, and Sidney Crosby had an assist in his 1,200th NHL game.

“We’re trying to put a game on the ice that gives us a chance to win every night,” Sullivan said. “I’ve said on a number of occasions here in the last little while, we felt like we’ve put stretches of games together where we think we’ve played well and we haven’t got rewarded for it. Tonight, we did.”