National Hockey League
San Jose 5, Toronto 4
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, December 17, 2015
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Referees: Chris Lee, Kendrick Nicholson
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Jay Sharrers
Attendance: 18966

TORONTO -- The San Jose Sharks have been winning on the road. Now, all they have to do is figure out how to win at home.

Defenseman Brent Burns scored his 11th goal of the season at 2:13 in overtime and added two assists Thursday as the Sharks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4, in a game in which both teams came back from two-goal disadvantages.

The Sharks (16-14-1) have opened a five-game trip with two wins and are 12-51 away from home and 4-9-0 at home.

"It's really unexplainable," said left winger Matt Nieto, who scored his fourth goal of the season to tie the game in the third period. "I think we're trying to find the answer to that. Another good road win, just finding ways to make points."

It was the second straight overtime loss by the Maple Leafs (10-13-7).

The Maple Leafs trailed 2-0 early in the game before taking a 3-2 lead in the second period and a 4-2 lead in the third.

"They dominated us early and really got on us," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "We obviously had a little talk and competed way harder in the second."

But the Sharks have been finding a way in the road.

"There's no doubt there's pressure there (at home)," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "The other thing at home, we haven't scored the first goal very often. Tonight we got the first goal. We're better playing with the lead, we didn't show it tonight. We should be smarter. We got away from our game plan a little bit. We knew Toronto was going to push back in the second. We knew they weren't going to be happy with their first period. We didn't handle it well. We turned it into a pond hockey game in the second period and it nearly cost us two points."

Centers Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic also scored for the Sharks.

Centers Peter Holland and Leo Komarov, left winger James van Riemsdyk and right winger Michael Grabner scored for the Maple Leafs.

Garret Sparks started in goal for Toronto but was replaced at 11:32 of the first period by Jonathan Bernier after San Jose's second goal because of an injury. Sparks made 13 saves and Bernier stopped 26 shots.

Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 27 saves.

Grabner scored his second goal of the season on his own rebound at 1:59 of the third period.

San Jose cut the lead to 4-3 when Vlasic scored his fourth goal of the season on a shot from the point at 3:10.

Soon after, Bernier stopped a penalty shot by San Jose center Chris Tierney.

The Sharks tied the game at 11:49 of the third on Nieto goal from the low slot.

Burns scored the winner on a pass from center Joe Thornton.

The Sharks started fast.

Pavelski scored his 15th goal of the season on a power play at 2:01 of the first period, six seconds after Toronto right winger Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau was penalized for tripping.

The Sharks needed only 30 seconds to score on their second power play of the game at 11:32. Marleau beat Sparks on the glove side for his 13th goal of the season. It came with defenseman Matt Hunwick serving an interference penalty.

The injured Sparks was replaced by Bernier after the goal.

Holland scored his fifth goal of the season, from the slot, at 14:48 to cut the Sharks' lead to 2-1 before Komarov tied the game with his 11th goal of the season at 4:50 of the second period.

"The first period, we were sitting around and watching them do what they want," Holland said. "They controlled the play, they were in our end cycling the puck. It was like they had all the time in the world to play in our end. In the second period, we finally started to execute what we needed to do. We shut down their time and space and we started to play in their end more."

The Maple Leafs took a 3-2 lead at 19:14 of the second period when van Riemsdyk banked a shot off Jones from behind the net for his 10h goal of the season.

"We started good. I think the last 10 minutes of the first period and obviously the second just wasn't good enough for us," Burns said. "You know, we heard about it and it's big to see the guys go out and fight back, especially after they scored that fourth one, to come back and tie it up."

NOTES: Sharks C Ben Smith (concussion) practiced Wednesday, but coach Peter DeBoer said he was not yet ready to come off injured reserve. ... San Jose C Tomas Hertl (lower body) returned after missing the win in Montreal on Tuesday. ... The Maple Leafs end a four-game homestand Saturday with a game against the Los Angeles Kings. ... The Sharks play the third game on a five-game trip Friday against the Ottawa Senators. ... Toronto C Nick Spaling left the game with an upper-body injury on the game's first shift.
Top Game Performances
 
San Jose   Toronto
Brent Burns 3 Points Peter Holland 2
Brent Burns 1 Goals Peter Holland 1
Brent Burns 2 Assists Daniel Winnik 2
Joe Pavelski 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Martin Jones .871 Save Percentage Jonathan Bernier .897
Martin Jones 27 Saves Jonathan Bernier 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
San Jose 44 5 2-3 3-3 6 31
Toronto 31 4 0-3 1-3 6 41
Upcoming Games
  • Toronto will play their next game at home against Los Angeles. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .300 after a loss.
  • San Jose will play their next game on the road against Ottawa. The Sharks have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .438 after a loss.