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Wednesday, Nov. 8 8:30pm ET
Sturm's OT goal lifts Sharks | |||||
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CHICAGO (AP) -- Marco Sturm struck twice when it seemed time would run out on the San Jose Sharks. Sturm scored with 9.5 seconds left in the third to tie the game Wednesday night, then connected again with 15.9 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Sharks to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. San Jose extended its unbeaten streak to nine games (7-0-2-0), equaling a team record. "I think it was my day, you know, you get some goals," Sturm said. "I had one of those today." Sturm netted the winner after racing down the Chicago slot and working a give-and-go with Gary Suter. Sturm tied it 2-2 by firing in a loose puck from a goal-mouth scramble -- with San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov on the bench for a sixth attacker -- moments after Chicago's Jean Yves-Leroux failed to clear it. "Marco Sturm is probably our most consistent forward every night in all situations," coach Darryl Sutter said. "He played a great game tonight." It seemed, however, the Blackhawks were en route to their third straight win. Steve Sullivan scored a pair of breakaway goals to give Chicago a 2-0 lead early in the third. Even after San Jose's Todd Harvey connected at 7:29 of the third to cut it to 2-1, the Blackhawks were in charge until their late collapse. "Any time you're up two goals in the third period and let it slip away, it's heartbreaking," Sullivan said. "It was tough to lose the two points because our team is starting to turn it around." Entering the game, Chicago had won three of its last four contests. Sullivan, who extended his point-scoring streak to five games, connected once during a Blackhawks power play and once when Chicago was short-handed. Chicago goalie Jocelyn Thibault made 29 saves. Nabokov, a rookie making his 11th straight start, also turned aside 29 attempts. After a scoreless first period, Sullivan gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 10:26 of the second. Stationed at the Sharks' blue line, Sullivan took a long pass from Alex Zhamnov, got by the San Jose defense and lifted a back-hander past Nabokov. Nabokov made several strong saves before Sullivan's short-handed goal at 1:33 of the third made it 2-0. After picking up a loose puck just outside the San Jose blue line, Sullivan raced down the ice, deked Nabokov to the ice and fired high. Harvey cut it to 2-1 at 7:29 when he cut to the net from the right circle. Thibault stopped Harvey's initial shot, but Harvey knocked in a chest-high rebound for a goal that stood after video review. Although San Jose had just two shots on goal in overtime, the Sharks had several prime chances against Thibault. Game notesSullivan has six goals and three assists in his last five games. ... Nabokov held an opponent to two or fewer goals for the 10th time in his 11 starts. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard San Jose Clubhouse Chicago Clubhouse RECAPS Pittsburgh 5 Philadelphia 2
San Jose 3 AUDIO/VIDEO   Steve Sullivan opens up the scoring for Chicago.avi: 799 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||