Sharks' rally overcomes Lemieux's two goals

Pittsburgh lost its sixth straight game, 5-2, at San Jose.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Even two goals by Mario Lemieux couldn't stop the Pittsburgh Penguins' crisis of confidence -- particularly against a team that finally reclaimed its own swagger.
Patrick Marleau scored two goals, and Mike Ricci's tip-in goal ignited a late rally as the San Jose Sharks overcame another big night by Lemieux with a 5-2 victory Thursday night.
Lemieux has 49 points in just 14 career games against the Sharks -- his highest points-per-game average against any opponent. He scored in each of the first two periods in his first regular season appearance in San Jose in nearly six years.
But Evgeni Nabokov made a series of big saves that kept the Sharks out of trouble until they scored three goals in the final four minutes.
The victory pulled San Jose out of last place in the Pacific Division -- and the loss was Pittsburgh's sixth straight.
Owner's assessment
"I thought we played a pretty solid game until the end," Lemieux said. "We skated well at first and created some good opportunities. When a team doesn't have much confidence, it's tough to win games like that. They score a goal, and our confidence goes out the window. We need to win a game and get our confidence back."
Ricci tipped Bryan Marchment's slap shot past Pittsburgh goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin to start the Sharks' late rally. Captain Owen Nolan and Marleau added goals 98 seconds apart for the Sharks.
The late rally propelled San Jose to just its fourth victory in 12 home games this season, earning praise from new coach Ron Wilson, who had three days of practice with his new club before facing the Penguins.
"All the decisions we made in the third period were intelligent, and that was a good sign," Wilson said. "I'd prefer that we play the first period like that instead of the third period, but we're a work in progress right now."
Moving up
Marleau had two goals, and Adam Graves also scored as San Jose moved past Phoenix in the division standings after more than a month on the bottom.
Nabokov stopped 22 shots, including a series of chances by Lemieux and his linemates in the first two periods.
After 15 minutes of cautious hockey in the third period, the teams appeared headed to overtime until Marchment took a shot from just inside the blue line. As it moved through a crowd of players in front, Ricci tipped it low past Aubin for the go-ahead goal.
Nolan and Marleau both beat Aubin in the closing minutes with stoppable shots.