Erik Karlsson scored 49 seconds into overtime as the visiting San Jose Sharks beat the New York Rangers 3-2 Thursday night to earn their first win of the season.
Karlsson snapped San Jose’s five-game losing streak with a spectacular sequence in the opening moments of overtime.
After Tomas Hertl won an offensive zone faceoff from Vincent Trocheck, Karlsson gained possession in the middle of the slot, skated around New York star Artemi Panarin, and dished the puck to Timo Meier while falling to the ice.
Instead of taking the shot, Meier went behind the net and found the defenseman wide-open on the right side for the game-winner into the vacated right side of the net.
Karlsson’s dramatic game-winner gave San Jose coach David Quinn his first win with his new team in his return to New York. Quinn was 98-87-25 in 208 regular-season games with the Rangers in three seasons and heard some boos from fans when the scoreboard played a video of his tenure during a stoppage.
Logan Couture scored a power-play goal early in the first and defenseman Radim Simek scored the tying goal midway through the second.
Filip Chytil and Panarin scored 7:15 apart in the second for the Rangers.
San Jose goalie James Reimer made 21 saves, including a glove save on K’Andre Miller with 93 seconds left.
Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves, including 16 in the third period when the Rangers were outshot 16-2.
Couture scored 6:02 in when he swooped in from the right side and put a rebound of a Luke Kunin tip-in try past Shesterkin after New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren could not clear.
New York tied it 1:50 into the second when Chris Kreider cleared the puck out of the defensive zone. Chytil beat San Jose’s Evgeny Svechnikov in the neutral zone and finished off a breakaway by lifting a wrister from the right circle by Reimer.
Panarin put the Rangers ahead 9:05 into the second by finishing off a give-and-go with defenseman Adam Fox when his slapshot from the bottom of the right circle easily sailed into the net.
Simek tied it after a loose puck went off Fox’s skate. Simek retained possession, got by Jimmy Vesey and switched from his backhand to the forehand and lifted the puck over Shesterkin while falling to the ice.
–Field Level Media