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BOX SCORE
NEW YORK (AP) -- After years of frustration and futility, the San
Jose Sharks finally beat the New York Rangers.
|  | | New York's Darren Langdon, left and San Jose's Patrick Marleau fight for the puck in the third period. |
Jeff Friesen and Patrick Marleau scored power-play goals 20
seconds apart in the second period as the Sharks beat the Rangers
for the first time, 2-1 Tuesday night.
Steve Shields stopped 26 shots as the Sharks beat the Rangers
for the first time in 16 tries. San Jose is 1-13-2 against New
York.
"It was definitely time we beat these guys," Friesen said.
"We probably played our best game last year against (the Rangers).
We had a lot of chances, yet we only got a 2-2 tie."
The Sharks (7-2) have won four straight overall and lead the NHL
with 14 points.
The Rangers continued to struggle on the power play, going
1-for-5. For the season, they are 4-for-45 with the man advantage.
"Our power play killed us," said Rangers forward Valeri
Kamensky. "Penalties also killed us."
Kamensky scored the only goal for New York at 5:29 of the
opening period. Stationed in the lower left circle, Kamensky took
Theoren Fleury's cross-ice pass and wristed a high shot to the
short side.
The Sharks dominated play in the second period, scoring two
power-play goals to take a 2-1 lead.
With Brian Leetch off for tripping and Stephane Quintal off for
roughing, Friesen tied the game at 3:07 when he banged home a pass
from Owen Nolan. Twenty seconds later, Marleau beat Richter with a
rising wrist shot.
"The whole momentum just switched around," Rangers coach John
Muckler said. "They took charge in the second period."
Nolan has at least one point in all nine games the Sharks have
played and he leads the league in scoring with 16 points.
The Rangers regained the momentum in the final period, but
couldn't beat Shields.
With about one second left, Kamensky had a chance to fire a
loose puck home during a scramble, but Nolan got his stick on the
puck and deflected it aside. The puck did go in the net, but about
a second after the final buzzer went off.
"It was a good thing there wasn't another second left on the clock," Shields said. "That was close."
The win puts the Sharks five games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.
"We're a different hockey team than we were in the past," Sharks forward Mike Ricci said. "We have a good mix here, and are playing a good system."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
San Jose Clubhouse
NY Rangers Clubhouse
Pang's Goalie Meter: Shields deflects 'em all
Who's Hot and Who's Not
NHL Power Rankings
RECAPS
Anaheim 7
Washington 1
Vancouver 6
Tampa Bay 5
San Jose 2
NY Rangers 1
St. Louis 7
Calgary 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Patrick Marleau scores the Sharks' second PP goal.
avi: 793 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Valeri Kamensky scores his first goal of the season.
avi: 755 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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