In San Jose, the Dallas Stars defeated the Sharks, 5-4, on Saturday night.
The win put the Stars back into the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
“It’s a big trip for us right now, so if we can go home with four wins it will be huge,” the Stars’ Jani Hakanpaa said. “We’ve just got to go one moment at a time here and hopefully we get the job done.”
Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves in the Stars win.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead off a strike from Nick Bonino, but Dallas replied with four goals.
Vladislav Namestnikov tied the game, 1-1, and Hakanpaa, Roope Hintz, and Jason Robertson put the Stars up, 4-1, before the end of the first period.
Robertson scored when the puck directed into the net off the Sharks’ goalie.
“That’s just, it’s not a good goal,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “We lost the first period. We won the second and we came out and we won the third, but you can’t start off by allowing four goals, and that [fourth] goal right there was the backbreaker. We get a point tonight or maybe two going into overtime, but the difference is two seconds and it’s just a bad goal.”
The Sharks’ Brent Burns cut the lead to 4-2.
Joe Pavelski hit for what would be the game-winner in the eighth minute of the third period.
“You’ve got to stay in the moment, I think that’s been the key for us,” Hakanpaa said. “Whatever happens out there, you just have to make sure you get out there and focus on your next shift and make sure you do the little things right, and that way you just keep turning the momentum back to us. Sometimes in these hockey games, you never know what’s going to happen, so you’ve got to stick to the moment and just keep playing.”
San Jose made a late push off goals from John Leonard and Couture for the 5-4 final.
“Giving up that early goal, it got our attention,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “I love how we responded. We came right back quickly and got a couple ourselves. I always tell the guys, ‘they score, let’s go back at them,’ and we did.”
Kaapo Kahkonen got the start for San Jose and yielded four goals and made just 10 saves in the opening frame.
“I didn’t think we played that poorly,” the Sharks’ Logan Couture said. “I think they capitalized on some chances. They had some sustained pressure in the O-zone. But for the most part we were able to keep them to the outside. We were able to find a way to push back, but when you’re down three after one [period] it’s tough to win.”
James Reimer made 14 saves in a mop up role.
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