Kevin Labanc scored the lone goal in the shootout after netting one goal and two assists in regulation of the San Jose Sharks' sixth straight victory, a 4-3 shootout win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped 25 shots, including five in overtime, as well as the final two Red Wings he faced in the shootout in a back-and-forth affair. Logan Couture netted three assists in the win.
The Sharks staked themselves to a 2-0 lead with Labanc leading the way. He opened the scoring with 61 seconds remaining in the opening frame when he started the rush after a neutral-zone turnover and finished the play by pouncing on a loose puck after a couple of shots were stopped.
Then, Marc-Edouard Vlasic doubled the lead 71 seconds into the second period. After Labanc forced a turnover, Vlasic picked up the puck at the left point and ripped a long shot that Wings goalie Jimmy Howard only got a piece of before it hit the net.
However, the Red Wings erased that deficit. Andreas Athanasiou put the visitors on the board 13 seconds later when Robby Fabbri fed him at the offensive blue line, and he converted a backhand deke.
Taro Hirose tied the game at the 11:34 mark of the middle frame. He was left completely alone in the slot and made no mistake for his first goal of the season.
Erik Karlsson, playing his 700th NHL game, restored San Jose's led 58 seconds later with a power-play marker. While his team was buzzing with the man-advantage, Karlsson fired a point shot through a screen to net his second goal of the season.
However, Athanasiou netted his second goal of the game with 4:14 remaining in regulation by converting Valtteri Filppula's cross-ice pass during a two-on-one rush for his fifth goal of the season. Athanasiou nearly scored in overtime, but rang a shot off the iron.
Jimmy Howard made 16 saves for the Red Wings, who are 3-0-2 in their last five games following a 1-11-1 stretch.
--Field Level Media
Detroit | San Jose | |
Andreas Athanasiou 2 | Points | Kevin Labanc 3 |
Andreas Athanasiou 2 | Goals | Kevin Labanc 1 |
Robby Fabbri 2 | Assists | Logan Couture 3 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Erik Karlsson 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jimmy Howard .842 | Save Percentage | Martin Jones .893 |
Jimmy Howard 16 | Saves | Martin Jones 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Detroit | 28 | 3 | 0-3 | 2-3 | 6 | 27 |
San Jose | 19 | 4 | 1-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 27 |