Leafs goalie Sparks leaves game with injury

After a dominating first period which saw the Sharks race out to a 2-0 lead midway through the frame, it was San Jose who would be forced to come back from a two-goal deficit.

San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones (31) makes a save against… The Sharks improved to 12-5-1 on the road – for an NHL-leading 25 points away from home.

Vlasic said he didn’t beat himself up over the mistake but made it a goal to atone on offense. “It has been a tough stretch”. “Joking around after the game, we were going to tell the league to play all our games on the road now”, San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic told reporters.

The winning play in this game was a heads-up move by Burns, who set up Pavelski earlier and then ended the game when his centering pass went off Holland and in during the 3-on-3 extra period.

The Sharks tied the game at 11:49 of the third on Nieto goal from the low slot. He allowed two goals on 14 shots in the first period – both power play goals – before having to exit the game with a now undisclosed injury. “We wanted to get this one for him for sure”, Holland said. “I thought I made the saves I had to make”. “I had a good practice this morning, I just want to keep building and I thought it was a step in the right direction tonight”. Dainius Zubrus, who scored his first goal of the season Tuesday, remained on the top line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton.

Leafs starting goalie Garret Sparks left the game with a lower body injury after the goal. First-year Leafs coach Mike Babcock seems to have instilled a little more structure in Toronto’s game. “He’s got to dig in, and he’s got to compete and he’s got to battle and he’s got to find his mojo”. “When your boss tells you, you can’t, you think you can and when you get your opportunity, you’ve got to do something with it”.

A tripping penalty on Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau opened the door for the Sharks to take a 1-0y lead 2:01 into the game. Brent Burns‘ overtime goal gave the Sharks their second straight win in Canada.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Seven Columbus players scored, 11 had points, and Brandon Saad, Cam Atkinson and Alex Wennberg led the way with a goal and two assists apiece in a win over Arizona. Marleau beat Sparks on the glove side for his 13th goal of the season.

Sparks bolted to the bench immediately after Marleau’s goal on San Jose’s 15th shot and went down the tunnel. The Maple Leafs end a four-game homestand Saturday with a game against the Los Angeles Kings….

Then there was the shot off Holland and in, which left the forward wondering about near misses by Joffrey Lupul and Daniel Winnik. Toronto would use that momentum to extend their lead to begin the third as less than two minutes into the final frame, Michael Grabner found a loose puck in front and gave the Maple Leafs a two-goal cushion.

The majority of his timely saves came in the late stages of the third period and overtime on crafty shots through screens by Patrick Marleau and Melker Karlsson as well as a tricky deflection from Joe Pavelski.

Soon after, Bernier stopped a penalty shot by San Jose center Chris Tierney.