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Shark-bitten: San Jose finds a way to beat Philadelphia again

Dec 9, 2010 - 5:48 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Logan Couture scored the winner in the shootout as the San Jose Sharks rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period to down the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4, at Wells Fargo Center.

Ryane Clowe and Jason Demers each had a goal and an assist while Joe Pavelski and Couture also lit the lamp in regulation for the Sharks, who have not lost to the Flyers in almost 10 years, winning 10 games with two ties during that time.

Antero Niittymaki made 31 saves to get the win against his former squad for San Jose, which has won three of four.

"It was one of those games that the puck was bouncing everywhere," said Niittymaki. "I'm just glad we were able to win the game. It was a good comeback."

Scott Hartnell, Claude Giroux and Ville Leino all had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who have lost four of their last six. Nikolay Zherdev scored the other goal while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots in the loss.

"We've got to win these games," said Bobrovsky. "We've got to play smarter in those situations when we have a late lead. We weren't ready to win that game and it showed. That's a good team they have over there."

San Jose trailed by three goals after Hartnell scored 6:15 into the third, but Demers made it a two-goal game 1:18 later when his wrist shot through traffic found the left corner of the net.

Couture made it a 4-3 game at the 10:51 mark just moments after a power-play expired and the Sharks immediately went back on the power play, capitalizing when Pavelski one-timed the bouncing puck off a left circle faceoff with 8:32 left in regulation to tie the game.

The Flyers appeared to score the game-winner right before time expired in the extra session as Mike Richards' shot on the rush hit off a Shark and crossed the goal line, but time expired right before the puck crossed the line and the game went to a shootout.

After Danny Briere's backhander was stopped by Niittymaki, Couture slipped a low backhand between the pads of Bobrovsky.

Giroux then missed wide with a wrist shot and Clowe sealed the win when he roofed a backhand past Bobrovsky.

It appeared that the first period would be scoreless, but San Jose took advantage of a late offensive zone faceoff to take the lead. A left circle faceoff win saw the puck eventually get to Niclas Wallin in the high slot. Wallin then threw it down low where it hit off of Clowe and snuck past Bobrovsky with just 4.1 seconds left in the frame.

Niittymaki made nine saves in the first frame to keep Philly off the board.

The Flyers bursted for three goals in the second period to surge ahead.

At the 6:21 mark of the frame, the team tied the game as Niittymaki had trouble with a re-directed shot on net by Jeff Carter and left the rebound sitting on the doorstep where Giroux chipped it in.

Leino's turnaround shot from the left circle fooled Niittymaki for a 2-1 lead at the 10:20 mark and Zherdev made it a 3-1 game just 49 seconds later when he banked the puck into the net off the goaltender from the left side.

San Jose appeared to cut it to a one-goal game 30 seconds after the Zherdev marker when John McCarthy lit the lamp, but a replay overturned the call as it was determined that he kicked it into the net.

The Flyers appeared to have the game wrapped up at the 6:15 mark of the third when the team went up by three goals after Hartnell redirected a bouncing Matt Carle shot into the net.

Game Notes

The goal was Giroux's 100th point and Carter's 300th point...San Jose defenseman Kent Huskins missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury...The last time the Flyers beat the Sharks was on December 21, 2000...The Flyers play in Toronto on Thursday...San Jose wraps up its five- game road trip in Buffalo on Thursday.