Wennberg scores in OT, Sharks rally past Maple Leafs

TORONTO -- Alexander Wennberg scored at 2:49 of overtime and the San Jose Sharks rallied to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

After Dennis Hildeby kicked out his pad to make a save on William Eklund, Wennberg beat Max Domi to the net to jam in the rebound for the win. The goal was upheld after being reviewed for offside.

“You celebrate, the whole team goes off and then it’s called for offside,” Wennberg said. “I didn’t see it so it makes it a little more interesting but we’re just happy the goal stands. We worked hard fighting our way back into this game and finding a way to win so it feels good for sure.”

Wennberg also had two assists, Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg scored and Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for the Sharks (15-14-3), who are 2-3-0 in their past five.

“I thought we did some good things,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I thought our game would come for a few shifts and then it would go away for a few shifts. We shot ourselves in the foot with a couple puck play mistakes but for the most part I liked the way our guys competed, we worked hard, did a lot of the things we’d been talking about a lot of lately and I thought we were resilient. So for us to come out and get two points when it wasn’t looking too good for a little bit especially after the offside no-goal, credit to our group.”

William Nylander, who had been held without a point in each of his past four games, had two assists and Hildeby made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs (14-11-5), who are 4-0-2 in their past six.

“It could have gone either way honestly,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. “I thought we played a pretty solid game. They tie the game late, it’s always a battle the last couple of minutes especially 5-on-6 and they were able to find a way through to tie it. It could have gone either way. It's tough getting on the wrong side of it but I thought there was a lot of good things we did today.”

Hildeby stopped Ty Dellandrea on a penalty shot at 11:46 of the first period to keep it 0-0.

The Maple Leafs went up 1-0 at 14:33 of the first period. Nylander set up Jake McCabe for a one-timer at the left face-off dot with a pass from behind the net. McCabe’s shot was deflected by Dakota Joshua at the top of the goal crease, going off Nedeljkovic’s left pad before ricocheting off Timothy Liljegren’s leg.

Matthews made it 2-0 at 14:32 when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from Nylander below the right face-off circle on the power play, ending a streak of 0-for-12 and 2-for-28 for the Maple Leafs on the power play.

“We were due for one,” Nylander said. “We hadn’t scored one in a long time. We should be able to score way more on the power play. It was a confidence builder, I thought we moved the puck pretty well today. We could have had a few.”

Orlov cut it to 2-1 at 15:31 with his first goal of the season when he took a pass from Klingberg and shot over Hildeby’s right shoulder from the left face-off dot.

The Sharks appeared to tie it 2-2 at 8:54 of the third period, but the goal was overturned after Toronto successfully challenged that the play was offside.

Klingberg tied it 2-2 at 18:35 of the third period when he shot from the point through traffic in the slot, high to the glove side with Nedeljkovic off the ice for a 6-on-5 advantage.

“We were definitely desperate,” Warsofsky said. “I thought that 6-on-5, we were probably the most connected we’ve been in that situation this year. We get a shot through, we have great netfront. Wennberg is in front. Eklund is in the high slot. Goalie can’t see it. That’s kind of how you draw it up.”

The Sharks outshot the Maple Leafs 11-5 in the third period.

“The third period, we didn’t come out and dictate how to play the game,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We turned pucks over, we were passive, we didn’t finish them off in my opinion.”

Warsofsky said he thinks it will be good for the team to get a positive result, showing the resiliency to overcome a 2-0 deficit.

“Sometimes you get the result, sometimes you don’t...,” Warsofsky said. “I’m happy for the group to get the feeling of winning because it’s a pretty addictive feeling and we have to continue that and get better each and every day.”

NOTES: Sharks defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin returned after being a healthy scratch for the past four games, playing 17:26… Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson left the game at 3:21 of the third period after a collision with Adam Gaudette along the boards where his left ankle appeared to get caught under the Sharks forward as he fell. Berube said he would be reevaluated on Friday and did not offer a projected timeline for his absence… The Maple Leafs were without forward Bobby McMann, who served his one-game suspension for high sticking Oliver Bjorkstrand in a 2-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.