Devin Setoguchi scored two of San Jose’s six consecutive goals and the Sharks took advantage of New York backup goalie Steve Valiquette in a 7-3 comeback victory at Madison Square Garden last night that snapped the Rangers’ seven-game winning streak.
The Sharks got off to a sluggish start in the first half of the first period, falling behind 2-0. San Jose got even before the period was over and scored three more goals in the second on only 10 shots at Valiquette.
No. 1 netminder Henrik Lundqvist took over in the third for Valiquette, who allowed five goals on 18 shots. Lundqvist gave up Ryan Vesce’s third goal - second in two games this season - at 3:46 of the third, and one to Patrick Marleau with 1:55 remaining that completed the scoring.
New York (7-2) hadn’t lost since a season-opening defeat at Pittsburgh, but despite the winning streak coach John Tortorella expressed concerns about how his club was playing.
The Rangers allowed more than three goals in a game for the first time this season, and had yielded a total of five in the previous three victories.
Brad Staubitz and Dany Heatley scored in the first period for the Sharks (5-3-1), and former Rangers forward Jed Ortmeyer added a goal in the second before Setoguchi struck twice. Marleau also had two assists.
Chris Drury and rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto staked the Rangers to the early lead against goalie Evgeni Nabokov, but that quickly became a distant memory. Nabokov gave up Enver Lisin’s goal that made it 6-3 with 2:48 left in the game and finished with 27 saves.
Oilers 2, Canucks 1 - Nikolai Khabibulin made 39 saves to lead Edmonton to a victory over Vancouver, keeping the Canucks winless on the road this season.
Sam Gagner’s third-period goal was the game-winner for the Oilers (5-2-1), who have won four of their last five games. Patrick O’Sullivan scored Edmonton’s other goal and assisted on Gagner’s midway through the period.
Kings 4, Stars 1 - Ryan Smyth had a power-play goal and two assists, Justin Williams added a goal and an assist, and Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory in Dallas.
