San Jose’s home unbeaten streak ends at nine
SAN JOSE
Ville Koistinen scored with 2:32 left in overtime, and Dan Ellis made 54 saves against San Jose’s franchise-record shooting barrage in the Nashville Predators’ 4-3 victory Tuesday night.
Ryan Suter and Vernon Fiddler scored tying goals in the third period for Nashville, and Ellis’ brilliance kept his club in a one-sided game. Jason Arnott also scored for the Predators, who snapped a three-game losing streak and ended the Sharks’ nine-game home winning streak.
Devin Setoguchi had two goals and an assist while matching the club record with 10 shots for the Sharks, who lost at home for the first time this season. San Jose shattered the franchise record of 50 shots well before overtime, finishing with 57 – but only Setoguchi and Rob Blake managed to beat Ellis, the former journeyman goalie in just his second full season with the Predators.
In overtime, Sharks captain Patrick Marleau failed to score on a breakaway chance moments before Koistinen put an unobstructed shot past Brian Boucher, giving Nashville just its second road win in nine games this season. The Predators had lost the first three games of a six-game road swing.
Boucher made 25 saves in his third consecutive start in place of injured Evgeni Nabokov, but he wasn’t nearly as sharp as Ellis.
The Sharks still are the overall NHL leaders at 13-3-1, but they’ve lost back-to-back games for the first time while falling short of the NHL record of 10 home wins to start a season.
San Jose played without Nabokov, right wing Jonathan Cheechoo and defenseman Dan Boyle. Nabokov missed his third straight game with a lower body injury, while Boyle missed his first game of the season after his wife gave birth to their first child earlier in the day.
San Jose clearly had a major jump on the Predators from the opening faceoff, and Setoguchi finally put the Sharks ahead on a one-timer set up by defenseman Brad Lukowich late in the first period. Setoguchi’s shot was San Jose’s 19th in the first 17 minutes, leading to a 21-6 advantage at the first intermission.
The pounding continued for Ellis, but the Sharks didn’t score again until Blake came in behind a goal-mouth scrum and put home Joe Thornton’s rebound during a power play late in the second period on the Sharks’ 43rd shot.
After Arnott’s goal late in the second, Fiddler tied it with 14:18 to play when he grabbed a loose puck and fired it past two defenders and Boucher. Setoguchi put the Sharks back in front 27 seconds later on a setup from Thornton from behind the net, but Suter tied it again on a rebound shot 1 second after a Nashville power play ended.
Ryane Clowe had an open shot from the slot in the closing seconds of regulation, but Ellis made his 52nd save.
Notes:
Boyle’s wife, Amber, gave birth to daughter Eastin Sky Boyle on Tuesday morning. … Cheechoo missed his third straight game with an upper body injury from a hard check in last week’s win over St. Louis. … Joe Pavelski had eight shots for San Jose, and Marleau added seven.
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By Greg Beacham, AP Sports Writer
