Fabian Zetterlund scored in the fourth round of the shootout as the San Jose Sharks battled back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to stun the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Monday and snap an eight-game slide.
Tyler Toffoli and Jack Thompson had the goals in regulation for last-place San Jose (16-37-9). Alexander Wennberg added two assists. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves through 65 minutes of action.
The rebuilding Sharks entered 0-5-3 over their losing run and hadn’t won since picking up a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 27.
John Tavares, with a goal and an assist, and Matthew Knies replied for Toronto (38-20-3), which saw a five-game winning streak snapped. Anthony Stolarz stopped 20 shots.
San Jose — a paltry 2-14-3 over its last 19 contests entering play — fell behind 2-0 when Tavares and Knies connected on consecutive power plays in the second period. Thompson cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the third before Toffoli tied it with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
Toronto forward Calle Jarnkrok suited up for the first time in 2024-25 — and the 700th regular-season game of his career — after getting hurt in training camp. He then had groin and sports hernia surgery in November.
Takeaways
Leafs: Played at Scotiabank Arena for the first time since Feb. 22 and now hit the road again for another trip that won’t see Toronto back again until March 13 — a stretch of one home game in 18 days.
Sharks: Timothy Liljegren faced the Leafs for the first time since being dealt to San Jose in October. Selected 17th overall at the 2017 NHL draft, the Swede put up 75 points (19 goals, 56 assists) in 243 regular-season games with Toronto, but was never able to solidify a blue-line spot. Liljegren added one assist in 13 playoff contests.
Key moment
After William Nylander scored for Toronto in the third round of the shootout and Toffoli tied it, Tavares was denied by Georgiev before Zetterlund won it for the Sharks.
Key stat
Macklin Celebrini is tied for second behind Montreal Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson in the rookie scoring race with 44 points in 50 games. The 18-year-old forward picked No. 1 by San Jose at the 2024 draft missed 12 contests earlier this season with a hip injury.
Up next
Sharks: Continue a seven-game road trip Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Leafs: Open a three-game road trip Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
