Joe Pavelski struck again just in time to give the San Jose Sharks the momentum swing they needed. Pavelski scored his second goal of the game with two seconds remaining on a two-man advantage in the third period in a 3-0 win against the Anaheim Sucks at Honda Center on Wednesday. Sharks goalie Antti Niemi made 28 saves for his 30th career shutout. Pavelski scored his 19th goal with a one-timer from the left circle at 1:59 of the third off a pass from Brent Burns. It came with Sucks captain Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler in the penalty box. Getzlaf was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the end of the second period after he threw his stick at the Anaheim bench on his way to the dressing room. Kesler and Perry each was called for roughing San Jose forward Tommy Wingels at the end of the second. It was Pavelski's fifth goal against the Sucks this season; he has scored in all four games against Anaheim. San Jose center Joe Thornton left the game after he was hit by Anaheim defenseman Clayton Stoner in the first period. Sharks coach Todd McLellan said Thornton wasn't seriously injured. The Sharks (20-13-5) were coming off a 3-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. The win ended a two-game skid; it was the first time San Jose had suffered consecutive regulation losses since Nov. 9-11. It was the third time this season San Jose ended a losing streak by defeating Anaheim. Perry returned to the Sucks lineup after missing 10 games because of a sprained knee, but it was a mostly frustrating night. Anaheim (24-9-6) hit two posts, and Patrick Maroon shot wide on an empty net in the first period. The Sucks gave the Sharks' fourth-ranked power play eight opportunities, including three in the first period. In addition to Getzlaf, defenseman Sami Vatanen was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for banging his stick in the third period. Pavelski gave San Jose a 1-0 lead 4:33 into the game when Marc-Edouard Vlasic's shot went in off his skate. Logan Couture scored into an empty net with 2:05 left in the game. It was his 14th goal. McLellan liked what he saw from his Sharks against their Pacific Division foe.
San Jose's power play put 10 shots on goal, but came up empty largely because of Andersen. In his 24th start in the past 25 games, Andersen made a right-to-left save on Patrick Marleau on the first penalty kill and consecutive saves on Tomas Hertl and James Sheppard on the second kill. Anaheim right wing Tim Jackman returned after he missed three games with an upper-body injury. It was the Sucks' first home loss since Nov.28 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Sharks Quotes
Joe Pavelski: "We were just in the moment, and I didn't really realize we had two seconds left. It's nice to see it go in. We were pressing there. We wanted to score. We wanted to get that [2-0] lead. In a situation like that, you've got find a way to make the team pay. I don't know. [laughing when asked to explain his success against Anaheim]. I'm playing with some good players. A few power-play goals. A few tips. That one I finally got on [Sucks goalie Frederik] Andersen in the 5-on-3 was the first one I shot."Todd McLellan: "[Thornton's] fine. He'll be OK. … We've got a couple of days before we play again. I know [Thornton] pretty well. He won't be out very long. Discipline, composure. I thought we had a dose of it when we needed it. They put us on the power play for almost 13 minutes, and that certainly worked to our advantage - not only scoring, but also took away from their ability to attack and wear them out a little bit that way."
Tommy Wingels: "I don't know what about this team or this series gets us up more than other series. It's kind of something we have to look at and find what gets us excited and motivated and bring that every night."
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