In late December 2029, when the Roaring ’20s are coming to an end, lists of the best or the worst or the top or whatever adjective you want to use to describe people or things or events will be compiled.

And over the next 3,650 days, chances are Patric Hornqvist will end up being one of the most important members of the Penguins this decade.

Sure enough, through all of two days into the 2020s, he surged to a pretty good head start for that designation.

The same could not be said for the other 17 forwards or defensemen who skated with him Wednesday night.

Hornqvist scored the Penguins’ only two goals in a somewhat tepid 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks at PPG Paints Arena, their first game of the new year.

The Penguins offense wasn’t limited for opportunities, just results. They launched 38 shots on Sharks backup goaltender Aaron Dell but were only able to put two behind him.

In that sense, the Penguins were satisfied with their method, just not the outcome.

“Overall, we were the better team,” Hornqvist said. “We had more chances. We played really hard for each other. Then in overtime, they get a power play. They have good players, too. We have to learn from that. We can’t take a penalty in overtime. But that’s going to happen. But overall, we played a good game. It’s tough to lose these kind of games. But we should feel good about ourselves.”

The Penguins didn’t have much to feel positive about early in this contest as they gave up a goal to Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, his 15th of the season, two minutes, 48 seconds into regulation.

At the 16:51 mark of the first, the Penguins tied the game, 1-1, when Hornqvist raced off the bench, claimed a turnover by Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro and ripped a wrister past Dell’s blocker for his eighth goal of the season.

San Jose reclaimed a lead, 2-1, exactly one minute later. After Penguins defensemen John Marino and and Marcus Pettersson combined to turn over the puck at their own blue line under pressure from Sharks forward Patrick Marleau, a two-on-one rush between Marleau and Sharks forward Logan Couture against Pettersson resulted in Couture’s 13th goal.

Late in the second period at the 19:09 mark, Hornqvist struck again. After forward Alex Galchenyuk corralled a puck in the offensive left corner, he fed a pass to forward Bryan Rust low on the end boards. Cycling to the left corner, Rust zipped the puck towards the blue paint where Hornqvist was able to redirect it past Dell’s blocker.

In overtime, on a 4-on-3 power play, a goal by defenseman Brent Burns gave San Jose a victory.

Regardless of the defeat, the Penguins, who had a modest three-game winning streak halted, profess they were sated by their approach in their first game without All-Star forward Jake Guentzel following his surgery Tuesday for a right shoulder injury which will sideline him for potentially half of the calendar year.

”Everybody that is (injured) right now is a great player,” Rust said in reference to Guentzel as well as forward Sidney Crosby and others. “You miss the things they do, but I think overall, the guys in here did a pretty good job tonight.”

That sentiment could be applied most directly to Hornqvist as his goals helped make up for the void created by Guentzel’s absence.

But his greatest impact might not be nearly as tangible for a team missing so many important components.

“His energy is contagious,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a real positive guy. I don’t think the guy has ever had a bad day in his life. He comes in every day and he’s got a smile on his face and he loves to play hockey. We love that about him. His energy on the bench is terrific. He’s one of the most competitive guys that I’ve ever been around.

”He means a lot to this team, both on the ice and off the ice.”

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