The San Jose Sharks remained winless on their road trip against Eastern Conference teams, as Andrew Copp scored 25 seconds into overtime to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.
Goalie James Reimer made 27 saves in regulation time and three more in overtime before Copp’s goal, as the Sharks fell to 0-2-1 on their five-game road trip that concludes with games against Carolina on Friday and Pittsburgh on Saturday.
The Sharks (14-25-10) began the trip with regulation-time losses to Columbus and Boston on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
The Sharks and Red Wings were tied 2-2 after the first two periods as Erik Karlsson assisted on even-strength goals by Timo Meier and Logan Couture.
Meier scored his 28th of the season at the 7:58 mark of the second period. His first shot after he received a pass from Karlsson was stopped by Detroit goalie Ville Husso, but he collected the rebound, skated around the Red Wings’ net, and scored on a wraparound try, giving him his fourth goal in five games.
The Sharks were down 2-1 late in the second period before they sent a flurry of pucks toward Husso. After a Karlsson shot attempt was blocked, Couture, stationed to the left of the net, batted the rebound past Husso with 6.9 seconds left in the period for his 17th goal of the season.
Karlsson now has 49 assists and 64 points in 49 games this season.
Reimer, making his fourth start in the last five games, had 17 saves in the first two periods.
In five starts this month, Reimer before Tuesday had a 1-3-1 record in five games this month. But in those five games, Reimer had a .891 save percentage, a slight improvement from last season when he had a .879 save percentage in six games.
Sharks winger Kevin Labanc had seven shot attempts in the first two periods Tuesday as he played his first game since Jan. 13, when the Sharks were blasted 7-1 by Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
After that loss, Labanc, 27, sat out the Sharks’ next game against the New Jersey Devils three days later, as he was replaced on the second line by Mikey Eyssimont.
Labanc was also scratched for games against Dallas, Columbus, and Boston, and the Sharks went 1-2-1 in his absence – outscored 16-11 in those four games and going a combined 2-for-9 with the man advantage.
It was the most consecutive …read more
Source:: The Mercury News