San Jose Sharks Squander 2-Goal Lead In 3rd, Beat Anaheim Ducks In Shootout
By Phil Watson
Nov 29, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau (12) brings the puck around the back of the St. Louis Blues net third period at SAP Center at San Jose. Sharks won 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Pavelski scored in the shootout while Antti Niemi stoned all three attempts he faced and the San Jose Sharks pulled out a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Saturday night at the SAP Center.
The win puts the Sharks (18-3-5, 41 points) alone atop the Pacific Division, a point ahead of the Ducks (18-7-4, 40 points).
San Jose exploded for three goals in the second period and looked to be cruising to their fifth straight win with a 3-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
Trailing 1-0, Logan Couture tied it for the Sharks, tipping in a shot from the point by Marc-Edouard Vlasic to tie it at 1-1 at the 4:16 mark of the second period for his ninth goal of the season. Patrick Marleau picked up the other assist.
It was Marleau who gave San Jose the lead shorthanded. Joe Thornton, playing with stitches over his right eye after taking a pick to the face, played much of the game with that eye swelling more and more shut, but he found Marleau after goalie Jonas Hiller misplayed the puck in his own zone. With a gaping net, Thornton passed to Marleau, who flicked him a wristshot for the shorthanded tally, his 12th goal of the season, and San Jose led 2-1.
With less than a minute to go, the Sharks put some pressure on Hiller and Martin Havlat backhanded a puck past Hiller off a feed from Mike Brown. Havlat’s second goal of the season made it 3-1, with Scott Hannan picking up the other assist on the goal.
At the 12:50 mark of the third period, Anaheim closed to within a goal on Alex Grant’s first tally of the season, assisted by Nick Bonino and Cam Fowler.
Then Ben Lovejoy scored his first goal of the campaign at the 16:54 mark off a feed from Bonino to tie the game.
Anaheim got the first goal of the game when Corey Perry potted his 15th of the year from Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner at 5:56 of the first period.
It was near the end of the first period when things started to get chippy. A scrum ensured that saw Jason Demers pick up a double minor for roughing while Hannan picked up two for roughing and was sent to the dressing room. Danuel Winnik and Andrew Cogliano picked up roughing minors for the Ducks.
But San Jose killed off the penalty before starting their third-period onslaught.
Demers committed a bad penalty near the end of overtime when he was called for a silly hold on Sami Vatanen at 4:28 of overtime. Anaheim did get off one good shot, a backhander from in close by Perry that Niemi turned aside. Penner’s final shot was blocked by Brad Stuart and it was off to the shootout.
The Sharks were 5-0-0 on their five-game homestand and now hit the road for four games, beginning Tuesday night at Toronto. Faceoff is 4 p.m. Pacific.
GGS 3 Stars
1. Patrick Marleau (goal, assist)
2. Logan Couture (goal)
3. Joe Thornton (assist)