Sharks sink to NJ Devils, 5-4.
SAN JOSE – A second victory in January slipped away from the San Jose Sharks in the final seconds of regulation play Wednesday, leading to a 5-4 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils at sold-out HP Pavilion at San Jose.
After the Sharks erased a 3-2 deficit after two periods to score twice in a span of 33 seconds in the third period, San Jose’s lead was wiped out by a Joe Nieuwendyk goal with 12.5 seconds to play in regulation. Nieuwendyk then gave the Devils the nod with a breakway goal past goalie Miikka Kiprusoff with 27.1 seconds left in overtime.
The loss left San Jose with 43 points in 11th place in the Western Conference, eight points behind eighth-place Ahaheim. The Sharks are 1-4-2-2 for the month.
New Jersey built a 3-1 lead in the first period on goals by Scott Niiedermayer and Sergei Brylin (short-handed) in a span of 61 seconds. Owen Nolan made it 3-2 with his second goal of the game and 13th for the season. The teams played a scoreless second period.
New Jersey had a record of 18-0-2-1 when leading after two periods, but a first loss in that situation appeared likely when Patrick Marleau turned a short rebound off a Teemu Selanne shot into a goal at 6:46 of the period and Adam Graves tipped home a Vincent Damphousse centering pass at 7:19.
The Sharks sat on that lead into the period’s final seconds. Goalie Martin Brodeur was pulled for an extra skater for the final minute of the period. The Devils had several offensive-zone face-offs in the last minute, including one caused by Kiprusoff’s attempt to turn a save into a shot toward the empty net. The Devils forged a tie when Nieuwendyk won a face-off, then rushed the net and knocked in a rebound of a Friesen shot with 12.5 seconds left in the period.
“Our two defensemen followed the puck to the point while their two guys were going to the net,” Sharks coach Ron Wilson said of the tying play. “I’m disappointed. Totally confused. The way some guys started, the way some guys finished. I’m really perplexed. Some guys should be ashamed of themselves. Our goaltender tried to score a goal in a one-goal game. There were bad coverage mistakes.”
The Devils had a 5-3 edge in shots on net in overtime. The winning play was set up by a Sharks pass in the Devil zone that clipped off Devil Jeff Friesen and onto the stick of a streaking Brian Rafalski. The Devil defenseman poked the puck ahead to Nieuwendyk behind the San Jose defense. Nieuwendyk deked Kiprusoff toward the right goalpost before drilling the puck inside the left post for his 502nd NHL goal.
Friesen, who spent almost seven years with the Sharks before leaving for Anaheim in the Selanne trade in 2001, finished the game with three points. The 26-year-old winger opened the scoring with a goal from the outside edge of the right circle 4:36 into action.
“We haven’t scored a lot of goals lately,” said Damphousse, owner of two assists against the Devils. San Jose had scored more than two goals on only two occasions in the past 11 games before Wednesday’s four-goal explosion. “We have enough goal scorers, our problem has been in the defensive zone.”
The Sharks have four games to play before the Feb. 1-2 All-Star break. The Minnesota Wild visits HP Pavilion Saturday. The Sharks play in Los Angeles Monday, then host the Kings Tuesday to complete the home-and-home series. Anaheim visits the Sharks Thursday.
