ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff
scored with 86 seconds left in overtime as the San Jose Sharks
ended their longest losing streak of the season Tuesday with a
5-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Joe Thornton netted a pair of goals and Travis Moen collected a
shorthander and an assist for the Sharks (43-12-10), who snapped
a four-game slide to maintain the top spot in the Western
Conference.
"We've won, finally. That's a really good thing," San Jose
coach Todd McLellan said. "We'll take the win, but I'm
disappointed. I'm disappointed in the way we carried ourselves.
We're a club that's won a lot of hockey games for a reason. We
should be playing with a lot of confidence."
Milan Michalek also tallied and Brian Boucher made 25 saves in
his sixth straight start for San Jose, which jumped to a 3-0
lead in the second period.
"Usually when we're up by three, it's a done deal," Thornton
said. "These guys come back on us every time. They played
hard. After we got up there, they kept coming. They are not
going to go away. It was nice to finally get a win and reverse
the trend."
Owen Nolan notched two goals and rookie Peter Olvecky and
Pierre-Marc Bouchard also scored for the Wild, who have lost six
of their last eight contests.
Ehrhoff forced a turnover in the defensive zone and carried the
puck down the ice before flipping a quick shot over goaltender
Niklas Backstrom, who finished with 18 saves. It was Ehrhoff's
eighth goal - and second game-winner - of the season.
"They lost it at the blue line and (defenseman Marek) Zidlicky
couldn't get the puck," Ehrhoff said. "I got it and knew I was
up against the forward. So I tried to take it to the net and
get by him, and then I tried to get it upstairs on the goalie
because he went down."
With San Jose holding a 4-2 lead, Nolan halved the deficit with
6:04 remaining in the third period with his 400th career goal.
The veteran right wing scored again less than four minutes later
to tie the contest.
"The pace of the game in the third was just so fast," Nolan
said. "We were buzzing. We were all over. It's just nice to
get the puck in the net and get closer to the tie."
Mikko Koivu collected two assists for Minnesota, which failed to
climb into the top eight in the West.
