Nick Bonino and Ryan Johansen scored third-period goals, and Jusse Saros stopped a San Jose penalty shot with just under 11 minutes left in regulation as the host Nashville Predators beat the reeling Sharks 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Mikael Granlund slid a pass from behind the net to a waiting Bonino, who drove the puck through two San Jose players and past the short side of Sharks netminder Martin Jones (29 saves) to break a scoreless tie 4:24 into the final period.
It was Bonino's team-leading 12th goal and second in as many games as Nashville won back-to-back home contests for the first time since late October.
San Jose, meanwhile, matched a season high with its fifth consecutive loss (0-4-1) while concluding an 0-3-1 road trip.
With 10:55 left in the third, San Jose's Barclay Goodrow was awarded a penalty shot after being slashed on a breakaway by the Predators' Filip Forsberg (two assists). However, Saros, Pekka Rinne's backup who made 24 saves on the night, need not do much in stopping Goodrow's attempt.
Johansen recorded his fifth goal on the power play with 7:01 left in the game. The Predators had just two power-play goals over their previous 10 games.
Timo Meier scored his 10th goal for the Sharks with 1:58 left in regulation to make it 2-1, but Calle Jarnkrok, who also had an assist, added an empty-netter to seal the deal with 42 seconds remaining. It was Jarnkrok's 11th of the season.
While the teams combined for just 29 shots over the first two periods, the game hardly lacked intensity -- especially in the second period, which got a little feisty between a pair of sides that are hoping to fare better than they've shown of late.
San Jose's Evander Kane and Nashville's Austin Watson got into it and both were issued 10-minute misconduct penalties. The final three-plus minutes of the second period featured penalties to eight different players as things got heated.
This was the third and final meeting of the season between these clubs. Nashville also won 5-2 at home on Oct. 8. San Jose then earned a 2-1 home shootout victory over the Predators on Nov. 9.
--Field Level Media
San Jose | Nashville | |
Timo Meier 1 | Points | Calle Jarnkrok 2 |
Timo Meier 1 | Goals | Calle Jarnkrok 1 |
Tomas Hertl 1 | Assists | Filip Forsberg 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Ryan Johansen 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Martin Jones .935 | Save Percentage | Juuse Saros .960 |
Martin Jones 29 | Saves | Juuse Saros 24 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
San Jose | 25 | 1 | 0-4 | 6-7 | 39 | 20 |
Nashville | 32 | 3 | 1-7 | 4-4 | 33 | 34 |