SAN JOSE – Erik Karlsson helped the San Jose Sharks turn what was looking like just another loss on home ice into their most stirring victory of the season.
With his team down by three, Karlsson assisted on second-period goals by Nick Bonino and Timo Meier to help tie the game, then scored the go-ahead goal with 9:19 left in the third period as the Sharks beat the Dallas Stars 5-3 on Wednesday at SAP Center.
Karlsson’s goal came from a sharp angle to the left of the Stars’ net, as he beat Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger on the short side for his 15th goal and 61st point of the season, marks that lead all NHL defensemen.
Karlsson also assisted on Logan Couture’s empty-net goal with 36 seconds left, completing a four-point night.
Steven Lorentz began the comeback for the Sharks, as his goal at the 9:41 mark of the second period cut the Dallas lead to 3-1.
Goalie James Reimer finished with 33 saves as the Sharks snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Sharks, down 3-0 after Stars forward Radek Faksa scored an even-strength goal at the 6:57 mark of the second period, responded with one of their most stirring comebacks of the season.
Steven Lorentz and Nick Bonino scored even-strength goals at the 9:42 and 11:49 marks of the second period, respectively, to cut Dallas’ lead to one.
Then on a Sharks power play, Timo Meier sent a pass from the flank to the slot that went off Jani Hakanpää’s stick and past Stars goalie Jake Oettinger that tied the game. Meier, who now has 26 goals this season, intended his pass for Logan Couture for what would have been a tap-in goal.
Karlsson now has 62 points this season.
Ty Dellandrea and Jason Robertson also scored for Dallas, as Sharks goalie Reimer allowed three goals on the first 16 shots he faced.
Wednesday’s game was the last for the Sharks at home until Feb. 14, as they begin a five-game road trip
The numbers for Reimer had gone in the wrong direction over the first three months of the season.
In October, even though the Sharks were having a difficult time winning games, Reimer came out of the month with a solid .914 save percentage and 2.77 goals against average in seven starts, with his goals saved above expected totals among the best in the NHL.
November saw a bit of a dip in Reimer’s statistics, as tough starts against the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings that month, where he allowed a combined 10 goals on 48 shots, led to a .893 save percentage in eight games.
Reimer re-aggravated a lower-body injury in the loss to the Kings and missed the next seven games. When he came back, solid starts against Arizona, Los Angeles and Minnesota were mixed in with substandard ones against Calgary and Vancouver.
For the month of December, Reimer, in six starts, went 2-3-1 with a .879 save percentage, although some of that had to do with the play of the skaters in front of him. Still, from a save percentage standpoint, it was the fourth-worst month of Reimer’s 12-plus-year career when he’s played at least six games.
January has been better. Although he had a 0-2-1 record this month before Wednesday, Reimer’s save percentage in those four games rose to .897, bolstered by the 38 saves he made Monday against the Devils.
