San Jose loses in shootout after tying it late
It wasn’t the two points the Sharks wanted, but on a night they had a lot of trouble finding their legs, one point will have to do.
Kevin Shattenkirk was the only skater to convert in the shootout as the New York Rangers dealt San Jose a 4-3 loss after Tomas Hertl scored in the final two seconds to force overtime.
“We fought back nicely, tied it up right before the game, and it’s just too bad we couldn’t get two points in the end,” Sharks forward Timo Meier said.
San Jose returned to SAP Center on Tuesday to play for only the fourth time in 12 games this season, yet extended its points streak to six games with the loser’s point. The game, too, marked the return Joe Thornton, who missed nine games with a knee infection.
New York, meanwhile, won for the first time in six games.
Hertl tied the game in dramatic fashion. His turnaround shot from 10 feet away hit the back of the net with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation. It was Hertl’s fifth goal of the season.
“I looked up, saw the zeroes and thought it might have been over, but the goal came just in time,” Hertl said. “It was a huge point because we didn’t have our game tonight.”
New York’s Chris Kreider scored his sixth goal of the season at 10:05 by tapping a feed from Mats Zuccarello past Sharks goalie Martin Jones, who was otherwise solid. The goal came off a faceoff play after San Jose iced the puck.
The red-hot Meier tied the game 2-2 at 8:14 when he led a 2-on-1 and rifled his teamleading ninth goal of the season over the right shoulder of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made a number of spectacular saves earlier in the period.
Meier extended his careerhigh points streak to nine games to match an on-going nine-game scoring streak by Brent Burns. The Sharks’ players are the first two to have simultaneous nine-game streaks since Todd Elik and Pat Falloon during the franchise’s third year of existence.
Kreider gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead 1:13 into the final period with a one-time drive from the right dot after defenseman Brady Skjei zipped a perfect pass from the left circle through the slot.
The teams traded goals within 49 seconds during the opening five minutes of play to account for the only scoring through 40 minutes.
“After we scored, they took it to us for the first 50 minutes,” Sharks forward Evander Kane said.
The Sharks scored first for the 10th time in 12 games when Burns found the back of the net for the third time this season.
Speedy winger Marcus Sorensen spun a pass from the Rangers’ goal line to Burns at the left point, and the hardshooting defenseman laced a low drive that beat a screened Lundqvist at 3:22.
New York responded on the next shift, however.
Sharks defenseman Justin Braun’s sweeping stick altered the shot by Zuccarello, but Jones had plenty of time to adjust. Instead, the high knuckling drive sailed over the left glove of the Sharks’ goalie and Zuccarello had his third goal of the season at 4:21.