Sharks Defeat Maple Leafs, Win 6th Straight
TORONTO (CBS / AP) -- Mike Brown had a goal against his former team and Joe Thornton scored on a 5-on-3 power play, leading the San Jose Sharks to a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night for their sixth straight win.
Brad Stuart and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, winners of nine of 10. Phil Kessel netted his 200th career goal and Mason Raymond also scored in Toronto's fifth straight loss.
Brown opened the scoring midway through the first period, tipping a shot from defenseman Jason Demers past Leafs goaltender James Reimer.
The Sharks had a two-man advantage for 76 second when Jay McClement and Mason Raymond were penalized 33 seconds apart. And Joe Pavelski found Thornton with plenty of room at the side of the net, and San Jose's captain made it 2-0 at 14:31.
Sharks goalie Antti Niemi made 28 saves.
The Leafs, meanwhile, had three shots in the first 1:31, then went 17:17 without one.
With Dan Boyle in the penalty box for interference, Raymond scored off the rush 2:44 into the second.
There was nothing Niemi could do on Kessel's power-play goal 9:47 into the second. Center Tyler Bozak -- who missed the bulk of the period to that point -- got Kessel the puck with a wide-open net.
Kessel didn't miss, hammering home his 15th goal of the season and 200th of his NHL career to make it 2-2. The crowd of 19,360 gave Kessel a standing ovation.
The Sharks took the lead for good at 16:00, when they took advantage of Toronto's fourth line of McLaren, Jerred Smithson and Colton Orr, who were caught on the ice for 1:48.
Defenseman Morgan Rielly couldn't clear the puck and Stuart skated to the net and appeared to bank the puck in off Pavelski. But it was changed to Stuart's goal, his third of the season.
The Leafs had some chances in the third, but they never managed to put enough pressure on the Sharks.
Couture sealed it with an empty-netter.
NOTES -- The Leafs held a pregame moment of silence for Toronto police constable John Zivcic, who died in a car accident Saturday. ... Cody Franson missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. Coach Randy Carlyle had called him a gametime decision, but the defenseman did not take part in warmups. ... C Nazem Kadri missed the game because of a death in the family.
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