Gameday 11 (Tue, 29 Jan) - Results

New Jersey v Boston 1-2 - The Boston Bruins missed Nathan Horton after he was knocked out of the lineup by his second concussion in seven months last January. A little more than a year later, the Bruins are reaping the rewards of another Horton comeback. Horton scored the tying goal with 4:05 remaining in regulation and the Bruins won a six-round shootout to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 2-1, at TD Garden on Tuesday night and improve to 5-0-1 on the season. The Devils remained unbeaten in regulation and are 3-0-2. Boston and New Jersey are the only Eastern Conference teams without a regulation loss. It's been impossible to tell that Horton went nearly a year between NHL games after his career-threatening injury suffered Jan. 22, 2012. He has five points (three goals) in the Bruins' six games. It took Horton until the Bruins' third game of the season to score his first goal, and he has now scored in back-to-back games. The Bruins won the shootout, 2-1, on goals by Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand. Seguin's goal came after a do-over because someone in the stands threw an object onto the ice during his first successful attempt against Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg. The officials used Rule 24.4 to make Seguin shoot again, and the speedster went to his backhand instead of the forehand he used to score the first time. In the sixth round, Marchand beat Hedberg five-hole before Tuukka Rask made a glove save on Marek Zidlicky. Hedberg, who did not play during the lockout, made his first start of the season spelling Martin Brodeur. The veteran proved that the Devils again boast one of the League's best goaltending tandems with a 27-save performance. The Bruins' run of 24 straight penalty kills to start the season, which they extended during the first period, came to a halt in the second when the Devils jumped on the scoreboard first. The Bruins left Zidlicky too much room to get off his slap shot from the left point, and David Clarkson tipped it past Rask. Throughout the night, the Bruins looked like a team playing the second half of a back-to-back for the first time in this condensed season. The Devils had a hand in the Bruins' struggle to get in sync. David Krejci led the rush on the Bruins' tying goal. After he received a return pass from Milan Lucic in a 3-on-3 situation, Krejci fed Horton for a snap shot through Hedberg's five-hole.

Toronto v Buffalo 4-3 - Matt Frattin is making the most of his opportunity with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime, as the Maple Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at First Niagara Center on Tuesday. The 25-year-old right wing, who's gotten a chance at an NHL job after Joffrey Lupul went down with a broken forearm last week, has three goals and five points in three games after being recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. He earned the extra point for the Leafs when he broke down the left wing while being defended by Jordan Leopold, drove to the net and lifted the puck over goaltender Ryan Miller's right shoulder on his short side. The win even Toronto's record to 3-3-0 and snapped a two-game losing streak. The Sabres have now lost four in a row after starting the season 2-0-0. Sabres rookie center Mikhail Grigorenko tied the game at 7:40 of the third period when he scored his first NHL goal. Defenseman Mike Weber took a shot from the point that bounced back into the middle of the ice. Turned away from the net while in a battle with Toronto defenseman John-Michael Liles, Grigorenko reached out for the rebound and threw a backhand shot toward the goal. The shot beat Toronto goaltender James Reimer, and Grigorenko slid into the corner near the Zamboni entrance to celebrate. Grigorenko, Buffalo's first pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, learned Tuesday morning that he would not return to his club in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and would instead spend the rest of the season with the Sabres. Reimer made 29 saves in the win, including a stop on Steve Ott's breakaway late in the second period to preserve a 3-2 lead. The Maple Leafs are now 27-58-6-3 all-time in Buffalo, and a Toronto victory in Buffalo is usually tough to come by. Jay McClement opened the scoring for Toronto midway through the first period with his first goal of the season. Nazem Kadri, coming off the bench, wristed a shot on goal from inside the blue line and rang it off the crossbar. The puck ricocheted into the skates of McClement, who was cruising near the top of the crease. McClement controlled the puck and knocked it in past Miller's outstretched right leg. The goal was the first the Sabres have given up in the opening period this season. Sabres captain Jason Pominville tied the game on the power play with 5:32 left in the period thanks to some hard work in the crease by his linemate Thomas Vanek. Marcus Foligno put a shot on goal and Reimer kicked it back out into the commotion in the slot caused by Vanek. The puck came to Pominville and to his right, Tyler Ennis tapped his stick on the ice, calling for a pass. Pominville hesitated for only a moment before he took the shot and beat Reimer over his shoulder. Buffalo took a 2-1 lead 2:28 into the second period thanks to defenseman Andrej Sekera's top-shelf backhand. Sekera made a beeline to the net from the point and Drew Stafford found him with a pass from along the half-wall. Sekera took the puck to his backhand and roofed it over Reimer. The Maple Leafs tied the game 1:12 later when Frattin cashed in the rebound of a shot from defenseman Cody Franson for his first goal of the night after Miller left a juicy rebound. It took Toronto another 3:19 and another shot by Franson to regain the lead. With forward Tyler Bozak screening Miller, Franson wristed a low shot from the point that went past Miller's glove. Franson finished with a goal, an assist and a plus-3 rating. Miller turned aside 20 shots in the loss. Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta left the game late in the second period after being drilled from behind by Toronto forward Mike Brown. Brown drew a two-minute boarding penalty on the play and was enticed to fight by Weber. In addition to the fighting major, Weber received a minor penalty for instigating and a 10-minute misconduct. Brown played one shift after the fight and did not return to the game with an injury. Defensemen Robyn Regehr (lower-body injury) and Alexander Sulzer (healthy) and forward Nathan Gerbe were scratched for the Sabres. Weber and defenseman TJ Brennan made their season debuts. Defensemen Mike Komisarek (eye), Jake Gardiner (head/neck) and forward Clarke MacArthur (lacerated finger) were scratched for the Leafs. Both teams play Thursday. The Sabres travel to Boston to take on the Bruins while Toronto hosts the Washington Capitals.

Philadelphia v NY Rangers 1-2 - There was a lot to like about the New York Rangers' 2-1 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. For the second straight game, the Rangers put forth a solid 60-minute effort. They received contributions from their second and third lines, including a first-period goal from defenseman Michael Del Zotto less than two minutes into the game. Even the much-maligned power play came through what turned out to be the deciding goal, as Ryan Callahan powered home a rebound for just the Rangers' third goal with a man advantage this season in 24 opportunities. But the sweet taste of improving to .500 was replaced by bitterness afterward, as Callahan was forced to leave the game with what appeared to be a left shoulder injury after dropping the gloves with the Flyers' Max Talbot early in the third period. Rangers coach John Tortorella had no update on Callahan after the game and said he would be re-evaluated Wednesday. Talbot said he could tell right away that something wasn't right as he and Callahan started to fight but only picked up two minutes each for roughing. Callahan's absence over the final 15:18 was immediately noticeable, as a two-goal lead was cut in half when Kimmo Timonen scored on a power play 2:27 after Callahan exited. Timonen found himself alone in the slot and wristed a perfect shot that beat Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who was fantastic in making 27 saves, over the catching glove. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov did everything he could to give the Flyers a chance to tie the game late, stopping a Carl Hagelin breakaway with 1:25 remaining in the third period. He made 27 saves in all, nine in each period. Danny Briere had a game-high 10 shots on Lundqvist, who played his best game since the season-opener in Boston. The Flyers had a chance to make it 2-1 midway through the second period with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:17, as Brad Richards and Derek Stepan took penalties 43 seconds apart. At no point did the Rangers clear the zone during those two minutes of shorthanded time, but they did everything they could to disrupt passes and obstruct shooting lanes. At one point during his nearly two-minute shift, Rangers forward Jeff Halpern lost his stick. The Flyers put just two shots on net, had two more shots blocked and Claude Giroux missed the net with a one-timed cannon from just above the faceoff circles during a golden opportunity that went for naught. Del Zotto's second goal of the season was also just the Rangers' third goal in six games that didn't come with either Richards, Marian Gaborik or Rick Nash on the ice. Scoring depth has been a problem in the early going with the Rangers putting their best three forwards on one line, but the second and third line had their best game of the season. Callahan, Hagelin, Stepan, Boyle, Taylor Pyatt and Benn Ferriero combined for 12 shots and had another five attempts blocked or miss the net. Even the Rangers' defensemen stepped up with 10 shots on net. For all the attack time, they only generated the one even-strength goal, but it was another step in the right direction. How the potential long-term loss of Callahan affects the club remains to be seen. Even with his game cut short Tuesday, Callahan averages 20 minutes of ice time per game. He is the Rangers' No. 1 penalty-killing forward, averaging 3:26 of ice time per game in those situations. He is tied for the team lead in hits with Boyle at 37, and with the Rangers already thin at forward, they'd miss his goal-scoring ability perhaps most of all. The Rangers almost had a two-goal lead evaporate in just 15 minutes without Callahan. If he isn't available for Thursday's home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, their mettle will be put to the test.

Winnipeg v Montreal 3-4 - These are not last season's Montreal Canadiens, and the two rookie additions to the team are a big reason there's a difference. Tomas Plekanec snapped a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal at 5:31 of the third period as the Canadiens picked up their fourth straight win Tuesday night, 4-3 over the Winnipeg Jets, whose three-game win streak ended. Brendan Gallagher scored in a second straight game and added an assist to be named the first star, and the second star was fellow rookie Alex Galchenyuk, the No 3 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft who picked up two assists for a second game in a row. Galchenyuk has five points in five games to sit fourth in NHL rookie scoring, and Gallagher is one spot behind his linemate with four points in four games. Galchenyuk and Gallagher have combined for seven points in the past two games playing on a line with Brandon Prust, though Therrien put them with Erik Cole on the power play Tuesday night. The two roomed together through training camp and developed a quick friendship that appears to be translating to the ice. The Canadiens gave up a two-goal lead for a second straight game but managed to pick up the victory in spite of goaltender Carey Price's first difficult outing of the season, allowing three goals on 21 shots. The team made a bad habit of not only losing leads last season, but also losing those games. That hasn't been the case this season. Rene Bourque and Cole also scored for the Canadiens (4-1-0), who will travel to face the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday to complete the team's first set of back-to-back games this season. Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov continued his torrid start to the season with two assists on the power play, giving him seven power-play points on the Canadiens' eight goals scored with the man advantage. Winnipeg's Blake Wheeler scored his third goal in four games, and Nik Antropov and Olli Jokinen each scored their first of the season for the Jets (3-2-1), who lost for the first time this season when allowing the game's first goal (3-1-0). Ondrej Pavelec gave up four goals for the second time in five starts this season, stopping 22 shots to put his record at 2-2-1. The Jets have lost all three games they have played at the Bell Centre since moving back to Winnipeg at the beginning of last season, and have lost four of five against the Canadiens overall. With the game tied 3-3 in the third period, Plekanec took a what appeared to be a harmless wrist shot from the right faceoff circle, except the puck deflected off Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey's skate and in to give Montreal the lead. Consecutive penalties to Prust for goaltender interference and embellishment midway through the third period gave the Jets a great opportunity to tie the game, but they were unable to take advantage and saw their record on the road drop to 1-1-1. The Canadiens jumped out to a 2-0 lead for a fourth straight game in the first period. Bourque scored his first of the season on a power play off a feed from Markov at 8:04, one-timing a shot past Pavelec. Gallagher made it 2-0 when he rifled a shot under the crossbar on Pavelec's glove side at 14:22. Wheeler cut the lead in half on a Jets power play at 16:10 when his slap shot from the right faceoff circle squeezed through Price and trickled over the line. The Jets tied it in the second period when Antropov scored three seconds after a Jets power play expired, converting a rebound with Price caught out of position at 3:32. Jokinen gave Winnipeg the lead when he snapped a shot high on the stick side at 11:48. But Cole tied it 3-3 off a goalmouth scramble for his first of the season, three seconds after a Canadiens power play ended.

Washington v Ottawa 2-3 - Even withoutf first-line center Jason Spezza, the Ottawa Senators managed to get the job done. Sergei Gonchar's power-play goal with 2:30 left in the game gave the Senators a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place. Ottawa trailed 2-0 and played without Spezza, who was out with an upper-body injury. He will be re-evaluated and his status for Wednesday's game against the Montreal Canadiens is still unknown, according to coach Paul MacLean. Jim O'Brien and Milan Michalek also scored for Ottawa (4-1-1). Troy Brouwer and Matt Hendricks had the goals for Washington (1-4-1). Ottawa's Craig Anderson made 31 saves for his fourth win of the season, including a point-blank stop on Mike Ribeiro with 39.7 seconds left. Other Senators made an attempt to step up, with the team's fourth line of O'Brien, Mika Zibanejad (making his season debut) and Erik Condra spending the most time in the offensive zone. Washington maintained pressure on the Ottawa defense and broke through halfway through the first period. Wojtek Wolski capitalized on a giveaway by Latendresse and skated up the left wing with the puck. He dished to Brouwer in front of the net, where he sent a backhander past Anderson's stick at 13:15. The Capitals made it 2-0 coming off a power play, when Jay Beagle's shot from the right half boards was deflected by Hendricks past Anderson's left shoulder at 17:43. Ottawa's fourth line put the Senators on the board in the second period. O'Brien tipped the puck to Zibanejad through the neutral zone, and the center quickly dished it to Condra. Zibanejad and O'Brien then sped to the net. Zibanejad occupied Jason Chimera's attention while Condra turned and skated cross-ice. Once on the right side, Condra passed it back to O'Brien, who redirected the pass underneath a stretched-out Michal Neuvirth at 18:37. A quick strike by Ottawa early in the third period tied the game 2-2. Washington's Nicklas Backstrom won a faceoff, but Michalek beat Tomas Kudratek to the puck and backhanded it past Neuvirth at 2:20. The Capitals were not able to recover after the Senators grabbed the momentum, and it was a bitter pill to swallow for the Caps, who dominated most of the first two periods.

NY Islanders v Pittsburgh 4-1 - Even at 22, John Tavares is wise enough to acknowledge that victories in the NHL never come easy. His New York Islanders, though, sure made things difficult on the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night. Matt Moulson had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Nabokov made 37 saves and New York used its speed and sound defensive hockey to beat Pittsburgh, 4-1. The victory was the Islanders' second consecutive in Pittsburgh since snapping a 13-game road skid to the Penguins. New York did not win at either Mellon Arena or the Consol Energy Center between Dec. 21, 2007 and March 27, 2012. Casey Cizikas had his first NHL goal and Michael Grabner also scored for the Islanders (3-2-1), who have at least a point in four of their past five games. Nabokov was rarely challenged seriously and narrowly missed his 53rd career shutout when Pascal Dupuis scored with 1:09 to play. Still, Nabokov improved to 10-2 in his career against Pittsburgh, the beneficiary of a defensive effort that included killing off nine minutes of Penguins’ power-play time and otherwise frustrated and rendered the Penguins' high-powered offense impotent. Pittsburgh, the Eastern Conference's lone winless team at home, has lost three of four. The Penguins have managed only six regulation goals in their past four games, none from outside their "Big Three" of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal until Dupuis' late tally Tuesday. That goal allowed the Penguins to avoid being shut out at home for the first time since March 12, 2011. The only time the Penguins appeared to be seizing momentum of Tuesday's game came late in the second period. Already down 2-0, Pittsburgh's lengthy shift in the Islanders' zone got the record crowd of 18,657 into the game. But the Penguins promptly took two penalties, each of which led to Islanders' power-play tallies that all but put the game away. First was a Tavares goal for the second consecutive game, the pretty culmination of a near-perfect sequence of passing during a textbook New York power play. Moulson slid a one-touch pass across the slot to Tavares, who beat Marc-Andre Fleury high to the stick side as the goaltender slid the opposite way. Less than two minutes later, Moulson scored for the fourth time in four games, burying a puck left for him while he stood alone in the slot. Brad Boyes corralled a puck off the boards and dropped it for Moulson. Any thought Pittsburgh had of getting back into the contest was extinguished when it couldn't score during the resulting power play after a Colin McDonald five-minute boarding major not long after Moulson's goal. A scratch for Sunday's Islanders overtime loss at Winnipeg, Cizikas scored his first NHL goal 16:01 into the contest when he blocked a Paul Martin clearing attempt from the corner to the right of the Penguins' net, took possession of the puck and beat Fleury on a wraparound on the far post. Grabner made it 2-0 less than seven minutes into the second when he stole the puck from Deryk Engelland at the left point in the Islanders' zone and used his speed to get a clean breakaway. Fleury got a piece of Grabner's wrist shot, but it flipped up over his shoulder and into the net for Grabner's team-high fourth of the season. That would be more than enough for an Islanders’ defense that limited its own giveaways (New York had two, compared with the Penguins' 11) as well as it limited Pittsburgh's quality scoring chances. New York's blue line was buoyed by the presence of Travis Hamonic, who sustained a lower-body injury Sunday and was somewhat of a surprise at the morning skate Tuesday. With 22 goals in six games, the Islanders rank second in the Eastern Conference in scoring. It's early, but they have the look of a team that's poised to break the mold of the one that's saddled by five consecutive last-place finishes in an Atlantic Division that produced the conference's top three regular-season teams in addition to the Stanley Cup Final representative last season. Even against a team led by two recent Hart Trophy winners in Crosby and Malkin, one that hadn't lost two consecutive home games to the Islanders in more than a decade.

Florida v Tampa Bay 2-5 - The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting goals from their big guns. But they're also getting the kind of secondary scoring that makes teams successful. Steven Stamkos had a goal and extended his points streak to six games. But rookie Cory Conacher and the unlikely third-line duo of Tom Pyatt and Dana Tyrell each had a goal and assist as the Lightning remained unbeaten at home by beating the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Tuesday night. The Lightning, the NHL's highest-scoring team in the early going, delighted their fourth straight sellout crowd of 19,204 as they improved to 5-1-0 overall and 4-0-0 at home. The Lightning jumped ahead on their first extra-man opportunity of the game when Stamkos took a pass from Martin St. Louis just outside the crease to the left of goaltender Jose Theodore and put home his own rebound for his fourth goal. Last season's Rocket Richard Trophy winner has 11 points and at least one in all six of the Lightning's games. That lead held up for only 15 seconds as Peter Mueller picked off a pass in the Lightning end and beat goaltender Anders Lindback for his second of the season. Conacher put Tampa Bay ahead to stay 85 seconds later when he took a perfect breakout pass from Victor Hedman and barreled in on Theodore with defenseman Mike Weaver hanging on his back. Conacher moved the puck from his backhand to his forehand and shot back across Theodore for the goal. Pyatt and Tyrell went to work in the second period as the Lightning extended their lead to 4-1. Pyatt stuck first, just 3:18 into the period, when he got his stick on a bouncing pass from Tyrell and directed the puck passed Theodore. At 15:39 it was Tyrell's turn, as he took a centering pass from behind the net from Pyatt and whacked the puck past Theodore for his first goal of the season. Benoit Pouliot had the other assist. Vincent Lecavalier added some insurance in the third period, blasting a pass from Pouliot past Theodore at 14:13 for a power-play goal, Tampa Bay's ninth in 30 chances. Tomas Fleischmann added a shorthanded goal for Florida 18 seconds after Lecavalier's goal. Lindback stopped 26 shots for his third consecutive victory. Theodore, who's lost four of his five decisions, made 28 saves. The loss was the Panthers' fifth in a row after they opened the season by whipping Carolina. The frustration of losing was evident in the dressing room. The Panthers will get another chance to break out of the slump on Thursday when they host the Winnipeg Jets, who come to Tampa on Friday. There is no question that Boucher is pleased with how his team has broken out of the gate this season, but he is still calling for improvement.

Dallas v Detroit 1-4 - The combination of Pavel Datsyuk to Valtteri Filppula was too much for the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. Datsyuk set up two goals by Filppula with a pair of slick passes as the Detroit Red Wings avenged a loss to Dallas a week earlier with a solid 4-1 victory at Joe Louis Arena. The Wings, annually among NHL leaders in fewest fighting majors, took two in the first period, both by Jordin Tootoo. He fought Eric Nystrom three seconds into the game and tangled with Brenden Dillon later in the period. The Stars grabbed the lead midway through the second period when Loui Eriksson knocked a rebound past Jimmy Howard. But the Datsyuk-to-Filppula combination tied the game at 13:24. Henrik Zetterberg put the Wings ahead to stay when he scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 24 seconds left in the period. Rookie Damien Brunner made it a 3-1 game by beating Kari Lehtonen at 6:15 of the third period, and Filppula scored again off a feed from Datsyuk 23 seconds later. Howard finished with 25 saves. Lehtonen, the star of Dallas' 2-1 win in Detroit last Tuesday, surrendered four goals on 25 shots before being lifted for Richard Backman late in the final period. It was the first time in Dallas' seven games this season that the margin of victory was more than one goal. They kept it close through two periods but appeared to run out of gas in the third.

Columbus v Minnesota 2-3 - Missing for the better part of five games, the Minnesota Wild's secondary scoring showed up just in the nick of time. Playing on their heels after blowing a 2-0 first period lead against the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored his 100th career goal with 5:19 to play in regulation, propelling the Wild to a 3-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak for the home team. Bouchard's game-winner was a thing of beauty which started way back in the defensive zone, when he passed to defenseman Justin Falk standing near the Wild bench. Falk send a cross-ice pass to Torrey Mitchell at the offensive blue line, who dished back to a charging Bouchard entering the zone. He sent a wrister over a sprawling Steve Mason for his second of the season. The goal was also the first by a Wild forward not named Zach Parise, Dany Heatley or Mikko Koivu since the season opener against Colorado 10 days ago. For Bouchard, scoring his 100th goal has been a long time coming. The 28-year old scored 77 goals over his first six seasons in the National Hockey League. But concussions have limited the slick-skating winger to just 97 games over the last three seasons. Sitting just 23 goals shy of 100 following the 2008-09 season, it's taken almost four years to finally reach the milestone. Bouchard's return to health is also a harbinger of good things for Minnesota, which improved to 66-19-6 all-time in games Bouchard has scored a goal, including 2-0 this season. After a back-and-forth first few minutes, Minnesota grabbed control of the game. Koivu scored his second goal in as many games by gathering in a rebound of a Jonas Brodin shot, wheeling around the right circle and backhanding a shot from behind the goal line off Mason's leg pad and in at 9:23. That goal seemed to break Columbus, as the Jackets struggled to create any offense for the next period and a half. Nine minutes later, Minnesota went ahead 2-0 after a Koivu shot from the slot deflected off James Wisniewski's skate right to a crashing Tom Gilbert at the right circle. His wrister beat Mason for his second goal of the season and fifth point in six games. After that, Mason was brilliant, stoning several other Grade-A chances the rest of the way to keep the Jackets alive. Columbus made it pay off. A goal late in the second by Mark Letestu made it 2-1 before a power-play tally by Jack Johnson early in the third knotted the game at 2-2. Richards was frustrated with his team's effort, saying the final result was what the team probably deserved. On the other bench, Minnesota coach was please with his team's first 40 minutes. But a parade to the box in the third, reminiscent of the team's performance Sunday in St. Louis, which allowed the Blues to come from behind in a 5-4 loss, was a little disturbing. Backstrom made 17 saves to earn his second win of the season. Mason made 23 saves in the loss. Minnesota will return to home ice Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, undefeated this season and well rested, having not played since Sunday. The Blue Jackets begin a crucial six-game homestand Thursday against St. Louis.
Anaheim v San Jose 2-3 - It took a shootout, but the San Jose Sharks kept their perfect record alive Tuesday night at HP Pavilion, beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. Sharks center Michal Handzus scored the only goal in the shootout, beating Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller in the first round. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi went 3-for-3 in the competition, as Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne all failed to find the back of the net. Trailing 2-1 entering the third period, the Sharks pulled even at 17:15 on Logan Couture's fourth goal of the season. Scott Gomez dropped a pass behind him to Couture, who rifled a shot from the right circle through the legs of Hiller and into the net. Joe Pavelski also scored for the Sharks, who improved to 6-0-0 despite being outshot 30-18. Niemi made 28 saves. Handzus entered the game with a career shootout percentage of 50 percent, connecting 16 times in 32 attempts with seven game-deciders. He enhanced his reputation as the Sharks' go-to guy on the shootout. Patrick Marleau's five-game streak of games with a goal came to an end, but he had an assist. The Ducks (3-1-1) had goals from Francois Beauchemin and Matt Beleskey. The Sharks nearly ended things early in overtime when Marleau went on a rush and fired a shot from the slot, but Hiller made a glove save. Moments later, Joe Thornton unleashed a shot from close range, but it went just left of the post. With just under two minutes left, Perry had a great scoring chance from right of the crease, but he misfired. The Sharks were outshot 13-4 in the first period but owned a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Pavelski scored his third goal of the season at 9:46 of the first as the Sharks top line delivered yet again and San Jose scored first for the fifth straight game. Marleau got the puck in the Sharks' zone and Thornton, streaking the other way along the left boards. Thornton zipped a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Pavelski, who ripped a shot inside the right post past Hiller. Thornton, Marleau and Pavelski entered the game with a combined 36 points and added to their impressive totals. Niemi, who gave up just one goal Sunday against Vancouver, stopped everything that came his way in the first period and helped kill the Sharks' only penalty. The Ducks struck twice in a span of 59 seconds midway through the second period to take a 2-1 lead on goals by Beauchemin and Beleskey. Beauchemin scored shortly after Couture nearly scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway. Hiller won that battle, but it appeared as if Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray might have gotten away with a hook from behind that disrupted Couture's timing. After Couture missed, the Ducks stormed the other way, and Beauchemin ripped a sharp-angled shot from along the left boards that bounced off of Niemi and into the net at 8:40 of the second. Saku Koivu and Ryan earned the assists. Beleskey made it 2-1 at 9:39, taking a pass in the low slot from Getzlaf and firing a rocket past Niemi. Former Shark Daniel Winnik, who earned an assist, made it all possible when he won a battle for the puck along the boards and got it to Getzlaf. The Sharks had 12 power play goals in their first five games, but they didn't go on a power play Tuesday until 17:15 of the second period, and the Ducks killed that attempt. At the end of the second, Anaheim owned a 21-10 edge in shots. The Sharks were without veteran defenseman Dan Boyle, who, according to the team, missed the game with the flu. Although Boyle missed the morning skate, McLellan said then that he fully expected him to play. Boyle also missed the third period Sunday against Vancouver with what McLellan described as a nose bleed that trainers had trouble stopping. Sharks rookie defenseman Nick Petrecki, a first-round pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, replaced Boyle and made his NHL debut. Ducks forward Emerson Etem, a first-round draft pick in 2010, also made his NHL debut, skating on the fourth line.