San Jose, Ca. - Matt Nieto struck for the Sharks with :11.5 remaining on the clock to put San Jose ahead 2-1 of the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night.
After a turnover in some confusion in the neutral zone with time running out, Nieto kicked the puck to Patrick Marleau, who came open to the left side, received the pass, and charged for Steve Mason alone.
His shot was pushed wide by the goalie, however, who fell to his back on the save attempt after some bouncing around in the crease.
Both sides thought an overtime period was imminent.
In that time, though, Marleau's shot came loose and into the path of Nieto, who had skated up the ice to assist a second earlier.
He found the puck all alone, slicing the back-hander easily past Mason's right as he was still on his back and with Flyers all around him sprawled on the ice.
Mason held his right glove out in earnest.
And in vain.
The improvised game-winner was Nieto's 3rd goal this season and his first to win a contest on the year.
"My linemates did a good job creating havoc in front of the net," Nieto said afterwards. "Luckily, the puck popped out to me and I had an empty net."
And in a heartbeat, the Flyers suffer their 5th-straight losing hockey game on the road, falling to 2-9-1 away from South Philly.
That, with three more on the road coming, against the Kings and Ducks before meeting Columbus.
The first fifty-nine minutes and forty-eight seconds of the night, however, gave the Flyers (8-13-4) hope that their road campaign would be resurrected.
Philadelphia took possession of the first period, dominating their hosts and keeping the puck consistently on the attack.
They outshot San Jose 16-6 in the first twenty minutes, culminated in a power-play strike from Sean Couturier for the center's 5th goal on the year.
Couturier cashed in through a screen of defenders after taking a pass from Andrew Macdonald in traffic for his first goal in 11 games.
Antti Niemi stopped 15 of those first 16 shots against him, though would stop the next 13 in succession as the Sharks regained momentum into the middle frame.
Niemi finished saving 28-of-29 for the Sharks and Mason stopped 25-of-27.
San Jose returned the shooting favor to the Flyers, outshooting them 13-6 in the second.
Marc-Edouard Velsic would finally light the lamp for the Sharks at 17:44 for his 3rd score this season.
The defenseman received a pass from Tommy Wengels after Logan Couture took possession after a turnover in the neutral zone. Couture skated along the boards and darted a pass across to Wengels.
Vlasic came open in stride to the right of the net, took a pass into the slot from Wengels, and went top shelf on Mason to tie the game 1-1.
It was a second period that was dominated by the Sharks as the Flyers had the first.
San Jose took the man-advantage at 1:57, putting their 4th-best power-play unit against the Flyers' second-worst penalty-killers.
They would end the night 0-for-1 with an extra man, though not without putting a few scares into Steve Mason along the way.
Brent Burns shot quick from the left circle off a cross-ice pass before the chance was pushed aside, and his pass seconds later inside to Joe Pavelski outside the crease was gloved by the goalie.
There was a scramble in the crease with seconds left in the advantage that fuond almost every man on the ice within two feet of the goal, though Mason persevered, pushing the puck free from the pack in the confusion.
The third period was even between the two sides, with the Sharks outshooting the Flyers 8-7 as each team fought for what they believed would be the game-winning goal.
Andrew Desjardins ventured a 1-on-1 against Steve Mason seven minutes into the final session after a turnover, but the backhander slipped from his grasp and petered to the right as he collided with the goalie.
Wayne Simmonds almost fired a slap shot to Niemi's right at 5:17 in the third before being gloved in the corner of the crease.
Tomas Hurtl would venture two back-handers in as many seconds with 5 minutes left, the first bouncing off the Mason's pad and the second floating wide left of the net.
Wayne Simmonds took that loose puck and went the other way for Philly on a lingering chance to the left of Antti Niemi that would also end up wide.
Tommy Wengels fired a one-timer to Mason that went high and wide from the right with three minutes left.
But it would be the 22-year-old Nieto who stole the decision for the Sharks, who host the Boston Bruins on Dec. 4th.
San Jose is 13-1-2 in their last 16 contests against the Flyers.
Sharks center Logan Couture went to the team's dressing room as the third period began after being on the wrong end of a collision with Philly's Michael Raffl in the circle in the Sharks zone.
Couture's two goals lifted the Sharks to a 6-4 victory over Anaheim three nights ago.
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