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 Center Mark Letestu scored his second goal of the game with 20.7
seconds left, giving rested Columbus a 5-4 win over the San Jose
Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday.
Letestu tipped defenseman David Savard's shot from the right point
past San Jose goalie Antti Niemi to extend the hosts' losing streak
to three games.
"There were a lot of things that happened in this game that remind
me of what this team is," Columbus coach Todd Richards said.
The Sharks (4-3-1) scored twice in the opening half of the final
period to take a 4-3 lead, but they couldn't hold on.
San Jose defenseman Brent Burns took this third minor penalty of the
game, and the Blue Jackets (4-2-0) struck back on the power play.
Right winger Nick Foligno potted a goalmouth scramble tally to tie
it 4-4 at 11:40.
"We had a chance to manage the game, but we took another penalty and
they scored," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "We should be able to
hold that lead regardless who is on the ice."
San Jose center Logan Couture added, "We scored that big goal, then
we went back to playing scrambly in our own end. We have to be
better."
The Sharks had a late power play of their own when Foligno
high-sticked defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic at 13:15. However, after
converting their first power play, the Sharks capped a 1-for-5 night
with a fourth straight failure.
 That set the stage for Columbus' final-minute dramatics.
No one in the hosts' room wanted to hear about the fact the Blue
Jackets, idle since Saturday, were waiting in San Jose for the
Sharks' arrival back on Wednesday from a five-game Eastern swing.
It was at the end of that trip the Sharks failed to hold one-goal
leads against the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, too.
"Our defensive play right now is killing us," McLellan said. "It's
not just one player or one line, it's all the lines, it's the
defense, it's the goaltenders."
The Sharks led 2-0 after the first period on goals from right winger
Adam Burish and center Joe Pavelski. The Blue Jackets responded by
scoring three times on five shots during a 5:14 stretch of the
second period.
Center Ryan Johansen scored the first of his two goals at 8:22 when
he skated around Sharks defenseman Justin Braun and backhanded a
shot in close over San Jose goalie Antti Niemi just under the
crossbar.
Letestu scored his first of the year short-handed by slipping behind
Couture on a two-on-two break at 12:13. Johansen capped the rally
with a quick wrist shot from the left dot after Columbus left winger
Scott Hartnell forced a turnover, leading to one of Hartnell's
career-high four assists in the game.
"Last year our identity was that of a resilient team," Richards
said. "And this, tonight, was a resilient win."
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The sentiment was quite different in the other room.
"In general, we've got to defend better," Burish said. "If you allow
four or five goals, you're not going to win.
"We have plenty of firepower to score goals, a lot of talent and
guys who can find the net. It's committing to defending."
San Jose took a few shifts to find its legs, but Burish swung the
momentum in the hosts' favor with one pretty goal in the first
period. As if he were running a sweep left, Burish skated from his
zone along the boards and let go with a wrist shot that surprised
Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Burish's top-shelf strike at 5:11 was his first goal in two seasons
(limited to only 15 games last year) and just his second in 69
career games as a Shark.
After San Jose killed off the game's first power play, the Sharks
needed 66 seconds to convert on their first chance. Couture wound up
from just inside the blue line with a low shot that Pavelski
redirected between Bobrovsky's pads for a 2-0 lead at 14:44.
Bobrovsky finished with 33 saves. Niemi stopped 23 shots.
NOTES: Columbus was without C Marko Dano (undisclosed), C Brandon
Dubinsky (lower body), LW Sonny Milano (face), RW Nathan Horton
(back), C Boone Jenner (hand) and D Ryan Murray (knee). ... Antti
Niemi became the first Sharks goalie to start consecutive games
after he and G Alex Stalock alternated San Jose's first six games.
... The Blue Jackets conclude their four-game trip with games at
Anaheim on Friday and Los Angeles on Sunday. ... Coach Todd McLellan
bristled during the morning skate at the suggestion the Sharks might
think of farming out 19-year-old Mirco Mueller because the rookie
defenseman was going to be a healthy scratch for a second straight
game and third time this season. "He's not going anywhere," McLellan
snapped. ... LW John Scott and C Chris Tierney joined Mueller as San
Jose's healthy scratches. ... RW Corey Tropp and D Dalton Prout were
not in uniform for Columbus.
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