San Jose Rallies For 4-3 Win Over Detroit, Takes 2-0 Series Lead

San Jose, CA (Sports Network) – Joe Thornton’s rebound goal with 7:23 left in the third period gave San Jose the lead, as the Sharks rallied for a 4-3 victory over Detroit in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

Joe Pavelski continued his amazing postseason with a pair of goals and an assist, and Dany Heatley added three helpers for the Sharks, who won the opener, 4-3, on Thursday. Ryane Clowe also scored, while Evgeni Nabokov stopped 28 shots.

Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which also received scores from Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom. Jimmy Howard made 41 saves, but the Red Wings were victimized by 10 penalties, including five in the final period.

The series shifts to Detroit for Game 3 on Tuesday.

Pavelski has a goal in five straight games. He became the first player to have three straight multi-goal games in the playoffs since Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux in 1992. Pavelski upped his total to nine goals and five assists for the playoffs, including an incredible eight goals and five assists in the last five contests.

An unfortunate broken stick by Lidstrom led to an odd-man rush for the Sharks, resulting in the winning goal. Lidstrom’s stick snapped in half while swiping at the disc in the offensive end, and Heatley raced the other way, skating to the right circle, but Howard came up with the initial stop. Thornton was in front to mop up for the go-ahead goal.

Howard robbed Pavelski with a sprawling glove save with nearly four minutes left, but Detroit was left a man short moments later when Valtteri Filppula took a tripping penalty with 3:55 remaining. Heatley gave that right back with a goaltender interference call despite getting pushed on top of Howard by Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart.

The Red Wings pulled Howard for an extra attacker, but with 64 seconds left Detroit was hit with a penalty for too many men on the ice. Howard came back in net due to a Detroit zone faceoff and didn’t get to the bench until less than 20 seconds left, and the Red Wings couldn’t get any sustained pressure in the San Jose end.