little luck. They finally got a power-play chance midway through th

NEWARK, N.J. -- Two days after being a healthy scratch against Buffalo, Matt Nieto had the perfect response for San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan. Nieto returned to the lineup and scored the game-winning goal at 6:20 of the third period and the Sharks defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Sunday. "Whenever you get a chance to be in the lineup, you have to have a positive impact and thats something I try to do whenever I am in," Nieto said. Nieto not only returned to the lineup, he replaced Brent Burns on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. It worked out just fine, with Nieto also getting a great chance in the first period, breaking in from the left boards. "Its so easy playing with those guys," said Nieto, who now has seven goals in 48 games and also played a key role as the Sharks killed off all four Devils power plays. "I just have to retrieve pucks for them, and when I get it to them, go to the net and get open." The winner came on a counterattack after goaltender Alex Stalock made five of his 21 saves, including a two-on-none save against Patrik Elias. Thornton made a pass from the left boards to Pavelski in the middle of the ice. He found Nieto coming down the right side and the forward ripped a shot into the top corner of the net. "I had a couple of chances in the first period and wasnt able to elevate the puck," Nieto said. "We knew in the pre-scout that we needed to get pucks high on this guy so I shot it high, and luckily it went by." McLellan said he was not sending Nieto a message by sitting him the previous game. He just wanted to get some other players in the lineup. The coach admitted, he got the message, if Nieto was sending him one. "We have to listen, too," he said. "He played well." Logan Couture and Raffi Torres also scored and U.S. Olympian Joe Pavelski had the primary assists on the tying and winning goals as the Sharks won for the fifth time in six games. They were 2-1 on the road trip after the Olympics. Patrick Marleau iced the game with a breakaway goal with 2:25 to play, his 25th of the season. Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils, who had a two-game, post-Olympic break winning streak snapped. Cory Schneider had 18 saves for New Jersey, which was playing its third game in four days. "We did a lot of good stuff," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. "We gave ourselves a chance under a tough circumstance to get points and it didnt happen." The Sharks and Devils took turns taking the lead in the second period that featured four goals. Couture and Torres, who returned to the Sharks lineup after the Olympic break, scored in the second period and each has three goals since returning. Henrique, who has four goals since the break, and Elias, who has two, tallied for the Devils. Couture snapped a scoreless tie at 3:26 of the period, putting in the rebound of a Marleau deflection into an open net. Schneider contributed to the goal by playing the puck poorly behind his own net to set up a point shot by Jason Demers. Henrique tied the score a little more than a minute later, depositing a nice cross-ice pass from the right corner by Steve Bernier into an open net for his career-best 18th goal. Elias put New Jersey ahead about 10 minutes later, deflecting a point shot by rookie defenceman Jon Merrill past Stalock. The lead stood for 92 seconds as Torres and Pavelski worked a beautiful give-and-go on a 2-on-1 break that led to Torres third goal. He missed the Sharks first 59 games while recovering from knee surgery. He scored twice in his debut against Philadelphia on Thursday and sat out Fridays game against Buffalo. NOTES: This was Larry Robinsons first game back at the Prudential Center since the former Devils assistant and head coach left to join Todd McLellens staff in San Jose. ... This was LW Ryane Clowes first game against the team that drafted him in 2001. ... Devils captain Bryce Salvador (collarbone) and RW Damien Brunner (leg) each missed their second straight game after being hurt on Thursday. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Jersey . A criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court said his girlfriend told police they got into the argument early Thursday at his suburban Minneapolis home. Daniel Alfredsson Senators Jersey .Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday it is inevitable that the league will one day take after European sports and have sponsor names on team jerseys. http://www.senatorssale.com/authentic-chris-tierney-senators-jersey/ . Braves reliever David Carpenter was also fined for throwing at Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson in the same game, which featured several ejections, including Colorado manager Walt Weiss. Daniel Alfredsson Jersey . Or take a relaxing vacation somewhere warm. Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell scored, Ray Emery stopped 32 shots and the Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory. Dylan DeMelo Jersey .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Kyle Okposo scored the tying goal with 1:37 left in regulation and got the game-winner in the fourth round of a shootout to help the New York Islanders snap a 10-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Thomas Vanek also scored in regulation and the shootout for the Islanders. Kevin Poulin made 46 saves and was outstanding early to keep the Islanders in the game until they broke through with two third-period goals. Then he stopped three of four attempts in the shootout despite appearing to injure himself on a pad save against Joe Pavelski in the first round. Patrick Marleau and Pavelski scored for the Sharks, who blew a 2-0 lead and have lost four straight. Antti Niemi made 26 saves. The Sharks seemed to be in control with a two-goal lead heading into the third, but the game changed after Vanek knocked in a rebound of John Tavares shot in the opening minute of the period. The Islanders controlled the play for much of the rest of the period before getting the equalizer shortly after pulling Poulin for an extra skater. Tavares cleanly won a faceoff from Pavelski, and Okposo fired a shot through a screen by Vanek that beat Niemi. The Islanders then snapped their skid in the shootout. New York had also lost 10 straight road games in regulation since beating Ottawa 5-4 in a shootout on Nov. 1. After being stopped on their first 23 shots by Poulin, the Sharks finally broke through early in the second when they got their fourth poweer play thanks to an after-the-whistle roughing penalty against Matt Carkner.dddddddddddd San Jose made the Islanders pay right away for that lack of discipline when Marleau got a rebound in the circle and shot it under a diving Poulin to make it 1-0. The Sharks had converted three of their previous 42 chances on the power play. The Islanders, playing the back end of back-to-back games, got few chances and little luck. They finally got a power-play chance midway through the second period, but Vanek hit the post and the rebound skipped over Tavares stick. The Sharks added to the lead later in the period when Pavelski knocked a rebound of Dan Boyles shot into an empty net for his 10th goal to make it 2-0. The Sharks thoroughly dominated the opening period, outshooting the Islanders 18-3 and getting three power plays. They even had a two-man advantage after Eric Boulton and Travis Hamonic took consecutive delay-of-game penalties. Despite all that, they couldnt get a single puck past Poulin. He robbed Marleau with a blind pad save during a delayed penalty for his best save and made five stops on the three power plays to keep the game scoreless after one. NOTES: The 18 shots were the second-most for the Sharks in a scoreless first period, one behind the team record of 19 set Dec. 30, 2006, at Phoenix. ... Former Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov, sidelined with a groin injury, got a loud ovation when he was shown on the video board in his first trip back to San Jose as a visiting player. ' ' '