Devils Score 6, Defeat the Sharks 6-5

The San Jose Sharks wanted to end their road trip on a winning note.  The New Jersey Devils wanted to prove that they could beat anyone after coming off a 1-0 win in Boston.  In a game where neither team had more than a 1 goal advantage, the New Jersey Devils got 5 straight power play calls in the third period to come back from a 4-3 deficit and defeat the Sharks in regulation 6-5.

Coming into the game, many believed that the game would be a low-scoring grind match.  They were quickly proven wrong with a 5 goal first period.  30 seconds after the drop of the puck, Brian Gionta took advantage of a bad Joe Thorton pass in the San Jose end and putting it past Evgeni Nabokov to give the Devils the first goal of the game.  But Rob Blake answered back 4 minutes later, driving the puck into the zone by himself and blasting a slap shot past Scott Clemmensen to tie it up.  But after another Sharks turnover, Brian Rolston put a shot past Nabokov's stick side to regain the lead for New Jersey.  But 40 seconds later, Patrick Marleau redirected a shot by Christian Ehrhoff from the point to get a power play goal to tie it once again.  But David Clarkson ended the first period onslaught of goals with a blast from the point that trickled past a screened Nabokov to send the Devils into the locker room at the end of the first period with a 3-2 lead.
The second period became a much more defensive game for both teams, with neither side getting double digit shots on goal in the 20 minutes.  But late in the second, Jonathan Cheechoo mimicked Blake's shot, and simply overpowered the puck past Clemmensen to tie the game at 3-3.  Then with 13 seconds left in the second on a 5 on 3 power play, Thorton passed the puck between the legs of a New Jersey defender to an open Devin Setoguchi who one-timed it to give the Sharks their first lead of the game 4-3.
Devils coach Brent Sutter was not pleased with the penalty calls, which were very liberal for both sides for the first two periods.  His words obviously affected the referee, as the New Jersey Devils began the third period with 5 straight power play opportunities, including a 5 on 3.  The Devils did not squander their opportunity, as Zach Parise shot the puck off the post, which bounced off Nabokov's back.  Nabokov lost sight of the puck and Parise passed it through the San Jose goaltender to Patrick Elias to tie the game 4-4.  3 minutes later, again on the power play, Parise shot the puck off Nabokov's pad, which rebounded to a wide open Jamie Langenbrunner to give the Devils the lead back 5-4.  New Jersey went on the power play soon after, but a turnover in the neutral zone led to a Joe Pavelski rush, who backhanded the shot over the shoulder of Clemmensen to tie the game with a shorthanded goal 5-5.  But with 4 minutes left in the third, Joe Thorton took a very bad cross-checking call, as he shoved a New Jersey player from behind for no apparant reason.  David Clarkson then scored his second goal of the night, again from the point, which went through Nabokov's legs to give the Devils the lead and the win 6-5.

Several of the goals allowed by Nabokov were suspect, but he was never pulled by Todd McLellon.  Cheechoo's goal was his first in 17 games.  With a goal and an assist, Patrick Marleau has 599 career points.  Brian Gionta and Brian Rolston all skaters with 3 points each: a goal and 2 assists for both of them.  In every game on this road trip, the San Jose Sharks have given up the first goal of the game, but it was the first time that they lost in regulation.  After killing 12 straight penalties, the 4th ranked Sharks penalty kill has given up 3 power play goals in each of the past 2 games.  The Sharks were playing without Dan Boyle, who was out with the flu.  Thomas Plihal was injured in the first period and never returned.  Claude Lemieux returned to the town where he won two Stanley Cups, and was on the ice for the first faceoff of the game, and was occassionally paired with Joe Thorton.  With the loss, San Jose has lost 6 of their last 7 games.  They currently hold a 2 point lead over Detroit for the top spot in the Western Conference, with Detroit playing later in the afternoon against Calgary.  With the win, New Jersey moves to within 9 points of Boston, and 2 points ahead of Washington, with Washington playing against the Panthers later today.  The Sharks go home for the first time in six games on Tuesday, where they will host the Edmonton Oilers to try and go back to winning some games.