Check out the NHL standings. Yes, those are the San Jose Sharks
atop the Pacific Division for the first time since the opening week
of the season. They reclaimed that spot Wednesday night with a
dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on a
goal by Patrick Marleau that ended things four seconds before the
game would have gone to a shootout and overshadowed the fact San
Jose coughed up a goal with 50 seconds left in regulation.
PITTSBURGH
Check out the NHL standings. Yes, those are the San Jose Sharks atop the Pacific Division for the first time since the opening week of the season.
They reclaimed that spot Wednesday night with a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on a goal by Patrick Marleau that ended things four seconds before the game would have gone to a shootout and overshadowed the fact San Jose coughed up a goal with 50 seconds left in regulation.
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“It’s a good sign of perseverance,” Marleau said of coming back from the emotionally deflating tally by Penguins center Tyler Kennedy. “You don’t want to see that happen, but when it does happen, you want guys to forget about it right away and go out and concentrate on the game and concentrate on getting that next chance.”
Marleau’s goal was his second of the game and gave the Sharks their fifth victory in a row, as the team improved its record to 13-2-1 since hitting rock bottom in mid-January with a six-game losing streak.
Rookie Logan Couture broke a seven-game goal drought with his 25th of the season, and Antti Niemi made 24 saves to improve his overall record to 22-15-3.
Still, after impressive victories on consecutive nights over Detroit and Pittsburgh, coach Todd McLellan wasn’t ready to pop the corks on any champagne bottles just yet over the fact his team jumped ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes, who lost 8-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been there, but it’s just a small step,” he said. “We’ve got 20 games left, there are 40 points available, and that’s a lot when you’re only up by six or seven for a playoff spot.”
The Sharks, of course, were facing a Pittsburgh team depleted by injuries, including two to its top players, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. That list grew even longer in the first period when a shot by Marleau hit defenseman Brooks Orpik on the hand, and he did not return.
As it turned out, Orpik’s absence played into the hands of a Sharks strategy that called for a strong forecheck to hem the Penguins in their own zone as Pittsburgh was forced to play with only five defensemen.
“Just get it behind them — that was our game plan from the beginning,” Couture said. “We wanted to keep getting the puck behind their D and tire them.”
The Sharks have taken pride in their defensive zone play during this five-week stretch, but a lapse in the first period gave the Penguins the early lead.
A failed clearing attempt by Ian White ended up with three Pittsburgh shots on goal. Niemi stopped the first two, but a second rebound went to Kennedy, and he punched it in at 5:48.
The Sharks tied the game on their third power play of the night with Couture one-timing a feed from Devin Setoguchi past Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 3:01 of the second period.
San Jose got the lead for the first time at 5:28 of the third period on a goal that came directly off pressure behind the Pittsburgh net. Dany Heatley came away with the puck and got it to Marleau, who stuffed it through Fleury’s five-hole.
The Sharks had a chance to add an insurance tally, but Couture’s shot from the neutral zone went wide of the empty net. Seconds later, the Penguins tied the game when Jordan Staal hit the post to Niemi’s left, and the puck bounced to Kennedy on the opposite side.
Marleau had a chance to win the game about a minute before he actually did when Joe Thornton sent him in on a breakaway, but Fleury made a huge save.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. A shot by defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic with six seconds left bounced off Fleury to Couture, who steered the puck to Marleau for a 13-foot chip shot into the back of the Penguins net.
McLellan said he isn’t worried that his players will react badly to the pats on the back that may come their way now.
“It’s a pretty mature hockey club,” he said. “If we fall into that trap, shame on us. It probably got us into trouble to begin with.”
Notes: Couture’s goal was his 25th of the season, tying the franchise record for a rookie set by Pat Falloon in the Sharks’ inaugural season of 1991-92. … An electrical problem in Pittsburgh’s new Consol Energy Center forced a 19-minute delay in the start of the second period when the lights weren’t bright enough. … Center Scott Nichol and defenseman Kent Huskins each missed their second game with upper-body injuries. Rookie defenseman Justin Braun was a healthy scratch.
— Story by David Pollak, San Jose Mercury News
