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Bell, Pavelski score late goals as Sharks stun Red Wings

Dec 3, 2006 - 2:41 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Joey MacDonald had high hopes in his third NHL start. Unfortunately for the rookie goaltender, Mark Bell and Joe Pavelski were dreaming just a little bit bigger.

Bell forged a tie with 3 1/2 minutes remaining and Pavelski beat MacDonald with only six seconds left as the San Jose Sharks stunned the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2, for their fifth straight win.

Vesa Toskala made 17 saves and captain Patrick Marleau also tallied for San Jose, which was shut down for the most part by MacDonald, who appeared prime for his first NHL victory.

"It's a tough pill to swallow right now," said MacDonald, who finished with 32 saves. "It would have been nice in my first game home to get the win."

Bell tied the game with his fifth goal of the season - and first since October 26 - as he put an innocent shot on net before burying the rebound.

"It was just a soft shot," Bell said. "I kind of had it in my skates, I just wanted to get it off. It hit (MacDonald) in the pads, he went down and it came right back down to me."

Pavelski netted the decisive tally when he snuck behind the defense, received a pass from Milan Michalek and flipped a shot past a surprised MacDonald, just under the crossbar.

"(Pavelski) made a good shot and shelved it," MacDonald said. "It's a great shot and it happened quick."

Sharks coach Ron Wilson enjoyed his view of the action from the bench.

"When (Pavelski) scored, Joe Thornton said, 'We don't do overtime,' and I said, 'Thank god we don't.' It's a great play by Milan and Pavs," Wilson said.

Detroit erased a 1-0 deficit midway through the second period as Tomas Holmstrom and defenseman Mathieu Schneider scored 82 seconds apart.

But MacDonald could not hold up through a third period in which the Red Wings were outshot, 19-6.

"It's a big disappointment," MacDonald said. "I thought the first couple periods, we played really well and they didn't have a whole lot of opportunities. Then in the third period, we turned the puck over - I don't know how many times we turned the puck over - and they kept getting guys in behind our D."

Despite falling short of a three-game winning streak, the Red Wings were not about to blame their young netminder.

"He saved us there all through the game, especially in the third there," Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg said. "We had (allowed) so many odd-man rushes and he came up big."