Final
Red Wings score twice in third to rally past Sharks
Oct 26, 2006 - 2:15 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- It took until the final 20 minutes before the Detroit Red Wings were able to figure out Evgeni Nabokov.Mathieu Schneider and Robert Lang scored in the third period as the Red Wings rallied for a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
Facing the prospect of their first four-game losing streak in regulation since 1998, the Red Wings were stymied by Nabokov, who stopped all 27 shots he faced through the first 40 minutes.
However, the Red Wings broke through just 38 seconds into the final session while on the power play to tie the game. Schneider, a defenseman, beat Nabokov with a one-timer from the top of the right circle for his fourth goal of the season.
"(The puck) Just went end over end off the top of the toe of the of my stick," Schneider said. "One of those fluke goals, but I'll take it."
Schneider also had a hand in the Red Wings taking the lead for good with 8:58 remaining. He unleashed a wrist shot from along the right boards that Lang deflected past Nabokov for his third goal.
"It was just one of those things where he (Mathieu Schneider) made a really good play at the right time," Lang said.
Detroit had been held to one goal in each of its last three losses.
Six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek helped the Red Wings protect the lead as he stopped all nine shots he faced in the third period to finish with 22 saves overall. The "Dominator" made a sprawling save with 37 seconds left to preserve the advantage.
Nabokov finished with 37 saves for the Sharks, who lost for just the third time in 10 games this season. One of the Sharks' wins was a 5-1 triumph over the Red Wings on Thursday.
"We didn't work. Our forwards looked like they were auditioning for the Ice Capades," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "A bunch of guys looked like they were just waiting for a power play. When you slow your game down to the pace we were playing it, it's awful hard to crank it up to the level you need to be at."
Sharks center Patrick Marleau agreed with his coach.
"They kept at us all game and they were hungry," Marleau said. "If we would have maybe matched their intensity there would have been a different outcome."
Despite holding a 14-4 advantage in shots in the first period, the Red Wings found themselves trailing.
With Johan Franzen in the penalty box for interference, the Sharks broke through with 2:50 left in the period when Steve Bernier beat Hasek with a one-timer from the bottom of left circle for his third goal.
"It's hard, because you look up at the scoreboard and they have two, three shots and you're down 1-0," Hasek said. "You keep telling yourself the team is good enough to come back."
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