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Stars snap Sharks winning streak SJ blows a two 2-goal leads in loss 4/7/13 - By Mike Lee - If there's one knock on the Sharks that's been a consistent, is that they often fail to put away teams when given the chance. San Jose failed to hold a pair of two-goal leads in the finale of their 8-game homestand on Sunday, dropping a 5-4 decision to the Dallas Stars in the shootout. San Jose held a 4-2 lead entering the 3rd period, but laid down to a Stars team that was gutted by trades earlier in the week. Dallas entered the day as the West's 13 seed, reading themselves for the offseason, which sits just 10 games away, but they battled all afternoon, taking advantage of a Sharks lineup seemingly disinterested in putting the game away. As a result, the Sharks 7-game winning streak came to an end. San Jose also remained in the 5th seed in the West, failing to leapfrog the Los Angeles Kings with the line point they earned with the shootout loss. Tommy Wingels put the Sharks on the board at 8:39 of the opening period, depositing a shot from the slot after Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen tried to poke check the puck away from his net. That poke check kicked out to Wingels who had a nice look at the net before scoring his 4th goal of the season. Brent Burns made it a 2-0 game at 3:06 of the 2nd period, picking a spot between Lehtonen and the right post and snapping a shot from the right circle as he sped up ice. The shot found a seam, clipping Lehtonen and deflecting top shelf. The Stars answered quickly, catching the Sharks napping on the ensuing shift. Eric Nystrom redirected a Vern Fiddler feed from the doorstep after the Stars worked the puck to the right corner. Fiddler skated toward the net from the end boards, feeding Nystrom as he crossed in front of the net from right to left. Dallas tied the game 26 seconds later when Alex Chiasson took a Jamie Benn feed through the crease and sniped a goal as he skated on in net from the right side. Benn saw Chiasson cutting from the left of the net, and sent a diagonal feed through the slot to the Stars rookie who scored his 2nd NHL goal in only his third game. Playing in his first game since being acquired in a trade deadline day deal, Raffi Torres made his presence felt in a big way. The newest Shark knocked Nystrom off the puck in the Dallas zone with just under 8 minutes to play in the period, allowing T.J. Galiardi to swoop in and grab the puck. Galiardi finished the sequence by doing a 360 degree spin and backhanding the puck past Lehtonen in a highlight reel play. Torres recorded another assist 8 minutes later on a Marc-Edouard Vlasic goal. The tally will go down as one of the least celebrated Sharks goals in HP Pavilion history, because nobody knew it crossed the goal line. Vlasic swept around the back from the net from left to right after Lehtonen made a save and was laid out in the crease, and threw the puck at Lehtonen. The whistle blew and Vlasic pointed at the puck, but neither referees signaled a score. The play went to a lengthy review, which required evaluation of several camera angles. All but one of the camera shots was inconclusive, but a view from the right side clearly showed the puck tucking under Lehtonen and crossing the line. Chiasson made things interesting with his second goal of the game 6:07 into the 3rd period. The rookie forward pinched along the right post and chipped a shot past Niemi. The Sharks handed away the victory with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation when Matt Fraser threw a shot at Niemi from the left wing boards. The Sharks netminder made the stop, but the rebound landed on Loui Eriksson's stick for the quick put back. Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart was late to tie up Eriksson, who swept the puck past Niemi for his 10th goal of the season. Both teams traded shots in the overtime, with Jamie Benn missing on a shot late that rang off the left post. Lehtonen buckled down in the shootout, denying Logan Couture, Dan Boyle and Burns. Benn scored the only goal Dallas would need in the shootout to snap the Sharks 7-game winning streak. SHARE THIS STORY: What did you think of this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums

What did you think of this story? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums Scoring 1 2 3 OT SO T DAL 0 2 2 0 1 5 SJ 1 3 0 0 0 4 1st period - 1, SJ, Wingels 4 (Couture), 8:39. 2nd period - 2, SJ, Burns 6 (Braun, Niemi), 3:06. 3, DAL, Nystrom 6 (Fiddler), 3:41. 4, DAL, Chiasson 2 (Benn, Whitney), 4:07. 5, SJ, Galiardi 3 (Torres), 7:48.6, SJ, Vlasic 3 (Torres, Braun), 15:31. 3rd period - 7, DAL, Chiasson 3 (Whitney, Benn), 6:07. 8, DAL, Eriksson 10 (Fraser, Goligoski), 9:14. Overtime - None. Shootout - SJ: Couture (miss), Boyle (miss), Burns (miss). DAL: Fraser (miss), Benn (goal). Penalties 1st period - Pavelski, SJ (high sticking), 0:47. Dillon, DAL (cross checking), 11:49; Burish, SJ (hooking), 17:04. 2nd period - Burns, SJ (interference), 5:07; Dillon, DAL (cross checking), 10:45; Nystrom, DAL (boarding), 13:00. 3rd period - None. Overtime - None. Goaltending Shots Saves DAL - Lehtonen 36 32 SJ - Niemi 34 30 Shots On Goal 1 2 3 OT T DAL 6 16 10 2 34 SJ 10 13 11 2 36 Power Play Conversion DAL 0 of 3 SJ 0 of 3 3 Stars of the Game Alex Chiasson Raffi Torres Jamie Benn Attendence 17,562 Officials Referees: Kimmerly, MCCauley. Linesmen: Murchison, Galloway.

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