SAN JOSE
– After earning five of a possible six points in the recent
homestand, the San Jose Sharks take to the road for three games
against members of the Central Division beginning Saturday night in
St. Louis opposite the Blues.
SAN JOSE – After earning five of a possible six points in the recent homestand, the San Jose Sharks take to the road for three games against members of the Central Division beginning Saturday night in St. Louis opposite the Blues.
The Dallas Stars completed a comeback from a 2-0 third-period deficit to defeat San Jose 3-2 in a shootout at sold-out HP Pavilion.
The Stars struck for two goals in a span of 1:45 in the third to force the overtime. When the five extra minutes did not settle anything, three rounds of a shootout ended when Stephane Robidas scored on the final offering for the lone goal of the three-shooter series.
San Jose holds a five-point lead over second-place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division. Dallas is seven points back, Phoenix nine.
San Jose, unable to score on its second power play of the night after Steve Ott was whistled for high-sticking in the second period, took the 1-0 lead 21 seconds after Ott was released from the penalty box.
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic moved quickly to the right boards in the Dallas zone to control the puck and whip it to the back of the zone for Joe Pavelski. The centerman pulled the puck around the left side of the net, allowing Dany Heatley to reach past one Star defenseman to pull the puck under goalie Marty Turco at 10:32. Heatley leads the Sharks with 12 goals.
Three shifts later, San Jose earned a 2-0 advantage.
Ryane Clowe notched his second goal of the season when he found the puck at the top of the left circle and directed a hard shot toward the net. The puck skimmed off the stick blade of Dallas winger Loui Eriksson in the slot and dropped just under the crossbar at 12:43 for the 2-0 edge.
After San Jose used a fortunate bounce to go up by two goals, the Stars began their response in the third with their own lucky bounce.
The Stars scored at 5:50 of the third period, only four seconds after San Jose killed off a minor penalty for too many men.
Dallas solved goalie Evgeni Nabokov when a shot from the right point ricocheted off the right skate of San Jose defenseman Jason Demers and into the top right corner of the net.
James Neal was credited with the goal, his team-best 10th of the season.
The Stars drew even after another 1:45 of action. Neal carried the puck from the right boards and tried to put a shot on the net. Dan Boyle stopped that shot with his stick, but the puck veered to the high slot where Mike Modano rocketed his first goal of the season inside the left post for the equalizer.
Dallas came into the shootout 0-4 for the season, while San Jose was 2-2 for shootouts.
