| ESPN Network: ESPN.com | NFL.com | NBA.com | NASCAR | NHL.com | WNBA.com | ABCSports | EXPN | FANTASY | INSIDER |
|
| |
Tuesday, Dec. 12 10:30pm ET
Sharks win third straight over Rangers | |||||
|
| ||||||
|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- It dawned on the San Jose Sharks that they could throw off the New York Rangers' already shaky defense early. A quick, short-handed goal by Owen Nolan got the Sharks going en route to a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. "They've got so many offensive players. They don't seem to pay much attention to defense," Nolan said of the Rangers, who have lost five of seven games. "I think we kind of surprised them with our aggressiveness," Sharks defenseman Mike Rathje said. The Rangers have allowed a league-high 109 goals this season, but are second in the NHL with 104 goals scored. The Sharks, 4-1-2 in their last seven, got third-period goals from Marcus Ragnarsson and Patrick Marleau. After building a 13-0-2 mark against San Jose, the Rangers have dropped three straight to the Sharks, who are in their 10th season. Rookie goalie Evgeni Nabokov stopped 31 New York shots, improving to 15-4-3. Nabokov has held opponents to two or fewer goals in 18 of his 22 starts. With a 1-1 tie in the third, Ragnarsson tapped the puck just over the goal line as Rangers goalie Mike Richter struggled to keep it out of his net on a Sharks' power play. Marleau scored a little more than four minutes later, rebounding Scott Thorton's shot from out in front past Richter, who faced 34 shots. Marleau leads the Sharks with 14 goals. Mark Messier added a goal for New York with 32.9 seconds left, right after the Rangers pulled Richter for an extra skater. "We should have shot more," Messier said. "We should have shot the puck more, and we would have won." The Rangers had five power-play opportunities but were unable to score. The Sharks took a 1-0 lead on Nolan's short-handed goal just 1:12 into the game. San Jose's captain took a feed from Jeff Friesen and slapped it past Richter from the right circle. Nolan has seven goals and seven assists since returning Nov. 18 from a 10-game layoff with a sore abdomen. The Rangers have allowed four short-handed goals this season. After peppering Nabokov with shots, including a disallowed goal, Sandy McCarthy got around defenseman Bryan Marchment and beat Nabokov 3:12 into the second period. San Jose looked so sluggish in the second period that a hometown fan yelled, "Wake up Sharks!" during a lull in the action. Theo Fleury -- the league's top goal-scorer -- had a six-game points streak snapped. He had three goals and eight assists in that stretch. "We tried to make the plays and it wasn't working," Rangers right wing Radek Dvorak said. "We need to shoot the puck." Game notesRangers forward Petr Nedved served the first of a three-game suspension for high-sticking Boston's Joe Thorton on Saturday. Nedved can return Dec. 18 at home against Florida. ... This was the only meeting between the Rangers and the Sharks this season. ... The Sharks lost 6-1 to Vancouver on Friday, for just their third loss at home. San Jose has not lost back-to-back games this season. ... Rangers LW Adam Graves needs two goals to reach 300 for his career. ... Fleury has five short-handed goals this season to lead the league. The Rangers lead the NHL with six short-handed tallies. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard NY Rangers Clubhouse San Jose Clubhouse AUDIO/VIDEO   San Jose's Owen Nolan beats goalie Mike Richter for a short-handed goal.avi: 884 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Theo Fleury threads a pass to Mark Messier for a goal late in the third.avi: 698 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Goalie Evgeni Nabokov gets some help from the post on a Rangers 2-on-1.avi: 783 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 The Rangers' Sandy McCarthy backhands the rebound to tie the game.avi: 707 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Marcus Ragnarsson squeeks one past Mike Richter for a power-play goal.avi: 541 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 San Jose's Patrick Marleau puts in the rebound putting the game out of reach.avi: 1140 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   The ESPN crew talks with San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov after his 31-save performance.wav: 726 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||