Alexander Barabanov doesn't get a lot a press playing for the San Jose Sharks, but he's scored 3 goals in his last 7 games, including the unlikely game winner against the red hot Carolina Hurricanes at SAP Center on Monday night. The Hurricanes entered play having lost only twice in their first 16 games, including wins over Vegas, Anaheim and Los Angeles last week. Barabanov was the story of the night after almost getting knocked out of the game. He potted a goal in overtime to get San Jose back into the win column for the first time in almost a week.

The young Sharks forward pushed a shot past Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta at 1:42 of the overtime right after a Brett Pesce tripping penalty expired. Barabanov was parked on the left post, and when Tomas Hertl tried jamming a shot past Raanta from the off post, but was denied. Hertl regained control of the puck and slid a pass under defenseman Ian Cole's arm over to the Russian who lifted it home to cap the 2-1 win.

The Sharks were forced to shorten their bench midway through the 1st period when Nino Niederreiter caught Barabanov with a shoulder to the winger's head as both chased a puck down in the Hurricanes zone. San Jose played short on Saturday when Jonathan Dahlen was injured. Barabanov skated to the Sharks bench but was ordered to the locker room by NHL spotters, likely to undergo a concussion test.

Barabanov would return to the start the 2nd period, but he mentioned the hit in a post game interview.

"I was a little bit confused, but I returned to the game, " said the young Russian. "It was not easy, but I'm happy with the win." Barabanov credited Hertl with the pass, who made the feed at the perfect moment. Cole was laid out between Hertl and the net, but he chose to raise his outstretched arm just as the pass was initiated. It was like the parting of the red sea, and it allowed the puck to find Barabanov for the game winner.

The Hurricanes opened the game's scoring when Tony DeAngelo fired a shot from the high slot that eluded goaltender James Reimer76 seconds into the 2nd period. The Hurricanes worked the puck off the left wing boards, where three Shark defenders were pulled, opening up a lane for DeAngelo who tucked his blast just inside the left post.

The Sharks missed on a trio of chances 9 minutes into the middle period when Timo Meier, Rudolfs Balcers and Erik Karlsson missed on chances in tight on Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta.

San Jose would finally break their goal scoring drought, which last more than six consecutive periods, when Kevin Labanc pumped a shot from the right dot that beat Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta 3:54 into the 3rd period. Jasper Weatherby fought to dig the puck out of the right corner, sliding a pass from the end boards that landed right on Labanc's stick. The Sharks forward placed his shot between Raanta's pads for his 3rd goal of the season.

The Sharks kept the pressure on Carolina immediately following Labanc's goal, but Raanta denied them the go-ahead goal.

A penalty for too many men put the Hurricanes back on the power play at 7:46 of the period, but the Sharks penalty kill kept the game tied. San did not receive any support from referees Kyle Rehman and Trevor Hansen until Pesce was whistled for tripping with 21.8 seconds left in regulation.

Erik Karlsson took exception to a missed interference call two minutes earlier, slamming his stick against the glass in frustration. Pesce's penalty would make up for it.

Game Notes:

* Scott Reedy made his NHL debut in the game, becoming the 7th Shark to do so this season. Reedy logged 10:56 of ice time on 15 shifts, and was credited with 2 blocked shots. He wore #54.

* From statistician Darren Stephens, Alexander Barabanov becomes the 3rd Russian-born Sharks player to score an overtime goal, joining Sergei Makarov (February 3, 1994 at Philadelphia) and Viktor Kozlov (October 6, 1996 at Los Angeles).

* Kevin Labanc went 15 games between goals, although five of those games came during his COVID induced outage. He also missed Saturday's game due to suspension for slew-footing St Louis Blues forward Tyler Bozak last week.

* The assist on the game winner was Tomas Hertl's 12th point of the season. He has recorded a point in ten games this season.

* Nick Bonino still hasn't recorded a point for the Sharks this season, but he is contributing in other areas. The veteran forward skated on both penalty kills, and was 11-for-15 (73%) in the faceoff circle.

* Timo Meier led all skaters with 6 shots on goal. The Sharks forward had a handful of scoring chances in the game, but Raanta made several key stops.