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SAN JOSE — Nik Ehlers scored the game winner with 3:07 left in the third, spoiling Evander Kane’s revenge game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Ehlers recorded the decisive goal in a 5-3 Jets win over the Sharks at SAP Center Thursday after Martin Jones left his crease in an attempt to stop Blake Wheeler, who then skated around the net and found his teammate for an open shot.
In doing so, the Jets ended the Sharks season high five-game winning streak on a night where the home team outshot the Western Conference’s top-ranked team by a 44-24 margin. Ehlers completed his fourth career hat trick with a minute remaining in regulation when he got hauled down with an open look at an empty net.
Kane nearly willed the Sharks to victory against the team that traded him away because of team drama in February 2015. Kane recorded a goal and an assist along with 10 shots on goal.
Before Ehlers secured the win, the Jets escaped a wacky opening frame, featuring a pair of goals within the first 96 seconds, with a 3-2 lead.
Dustin Byfuglien opened the scoring just 51 seconds into the game, stripping the puck from Brent Burns and beating Martin Jones on a breakaway. Just 45 seconds later, Kane netted his first goal against his former squad, scoring on a 2-on-1 with Erik Karlsson after Joe Thornton stripped the puck away from Mark Scheifele on a tenacious backcheck.
With his 1,040th career assist, Thornton tied Marcel Dionne for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time assists list.
Joe Pavelski put the Sharks ahead 2-1 at 11:27 of the first, redirecting a Kevin Labanc shot with his leg on a Sharks power play. Karlsson earned the secondary assist, extending his point streak to seven games, his longest with the Sharks.
After that, Nik Ehlers and Mason Appleton scored, giving the Jets a 3-2 lead heading into intermission.
The Sharks tied the game at 2-2 in the dying seconds of the second, capitalizing on a major blunder by goalie Connor Hellebuyck. With less than 10 seconds remaining in the frame, the Jets goalie sent the puck up the side boards, putting it on Kane’s stick. Then, Kane hit Joonas Donskoi with a pass on the edge of the blue paint, setting the Finnish forward up for his first goal in 14 games with 5.8 seconds left on the clock.
The goal also marked Donskoi’s 100th NHL point.
The Sharks will return to action at SAP Center Saturday with a matinee against the Los Angeles Kings, the second game of a four-game homestand.
