|
 Left winger Patrick Marleau's tiebreaking, backhand goal at 12:31
capped the Sharks' third-period comeback and lifted San Jose to a
5-4 win over Edmonton at SAP Center.
"We're happy with the two (points), but we've got to tighten up for
the postseason," Sharks center Joe Thornton said. "We've got five
games here to do that."
San Jose pulled within one point of Pacific Division-leading
Anaheim, but the Ducks have played two fewer games. Anaheim, which
was idle Tuesday, plays host to Edmonton on Wednesday.
"We've got five left and you want to be playing well before the
postseason," Thornton added. "Our goal is to win all five and see
where it goes."
The Sharks were 0-for-5 on the power play before Oilers right winger
David Perron tripped defenseman Justin Braun in the San Jose end at
12:23 of the third. San Jose quickly took advantage, with Marleau
collecting his 32nd goal of the season by beating a diving Matt
Hendricks to the loose puck.
"I was coming down that backside looking for any scraps," Marleau
said.
Edmonton center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins collected his second goal and
fourth point of the game at 6:16 of the final period to break a 3-3
tie. His 18th goal beat Sharks goalie Antti Niemi short-side after
Edmonton right winger Jordan Eberle made a nice spin move to create
space.
Edmonton's top liners gave San Jose fits all night and combined for
10 points.
"They were not only good offensively, they were getting the job done
defensively ... they played a real complete game," Edmonton coach
Dallas Eakins said.
"We try not to give Dallas any reason to split us up,"
Nugent-Hopkins added.
A seemingly comfortable 3-1 lead had turned into a 4-3 deficit for
the Sharks.
"The intensity probably dropped a little bit. We're up 3-1 on a team
that's not in the playoffs," Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said.
"Sometimes you take your foot off the gas a little bit."
The hosts rallied at 10:35 when Thornton found right winger Brent
Burns on the weak side. Burns fed his 22nd goal through the pads of
Edmonton goalie Ben Scrivens to tie the score at 4.
"We fought hard to battle back," Boyle added.
The Sharks looked to be in a good shape when right winger Tommy
Wingels snapped a 10-game scoreless drought with his 16th goal at
2:45 of the second period. He put back his own shot that was
redirected off defenseman Brad Stuart's stick, giving the hosts a
3-1 lead.
[to top of second column] |
However, Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle struck on consecutive shots in a
38-second span later in the period, enabling the visitors to pull
into a 3-3 tie after 40 minutes.
Nugent-Hopkins found a soft spot in the right circle to beat Niemi
for this 17th goal at 13:04 following an impressive Edmonton cycle
and display of one-touch passing.
At 13:42, Eberle was credited with his 25th goal on an attempted
centering feed that went through Nugent-Hopkins, who beat San Jose
left winger Joe Pavelski, and caromed off the skate of Braun past
Niemi.
The Sharks escaped a lackluster first period with a 2-1 lead. San
Jose center Andrew Desjardins (No. 3) and Boyle (No. 11) scored on
either side of a goal by Edmonton left winger Taylor Hall (No. 26).
NOTES: San Jose continues to play without LW Raffi Torres, who
appeared in five of six games Feb. 27-March 8 following preseason
knee surgery. He missed his 12th consecutive game Tuesday. Sharks RW
Adam Burish (hand) and LW Tomas Hertl (knee) remain out for at least
the rest of the regular season. ... D Scott Hannan was San Jose's
lone healthy scratch. ... Edmonton G Richard Bachman (groin), LW
Jesse Joensuu (ankle), RW Ryan Jones (knee), LW Luke Gadzic
(shoulder), RW Nail Yakupov (ankle) and D Andrew Ference (chest)
remain out. ... The Sharks' homestand continues with games against
the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday and the Nashville Predators on
Saturday. ... Edmonton's trip continues in Anaheim on Tuesday and at
Phoenix on Thursday, a run of three road games in four nights.
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