A Flyers win quickly turns into a loss to Sharks

When Claude Giroux notched his 100th career point and Jeff Carter collected his 300th on the same second-period goal, it looked like a night of symmetry for the Flyers.

Instead, it turned into a night of horror.

After coughing up a 4-1 lead in the third period, the Flyers lost in a shoot-out to the San Jose Sharks, 5-4, before a stunned crowd at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.

"It stings a lot, but it's something I think is easily correctable - stay out of the penalty box. It's easy to do," captain Mike Richards said. "We shoot ourselves in the foot every game."

San Jose tied the score at 4 on Joe Pavelski's power-play goal with 8 minutes, 32 seconds left in regulation. It was scored two seconds after a Danny Briere tripping penalty.

"We have to win those games," said winger Ville Leino, who had a goal and an assist. "We have to have more urgency and play smarter. We weren't ready to win that game."

The Flyers nearly won it in overtime when Richards' shot appeared to deflect off a San Jose player and through the legs of goalie Antero Niittymaki at the final buzzer.

Replays showed the puck crossed the goal line a fraction of a second after time had expired and the goal was wiped out. The teams headed into the shoot-out, as San Jose got goals from Logan Couture and Ryane Clowe.

Briere and Giroux failed to connect for the Flyers, who are 1-3 in shoot-outs this season and 17-30 all-time.

San Jose deposited three goals in a 3:55 span of the third period to tie the score at 4, including a rebound tally by rookie sensation Couture with 9:09 left.

"We had full control of the game. We were dominating every aspect up until [the latter stages]," said defenseman Chris Pronger, whose team has not beaten San Jose in the last 12 games dating back to 2000. "We started to play a little river hockey and they have players who can put the puck in the net."

Briere was called for a double minor - high-sticking with 6:33 left in regulation - to negate a Flyers power play.

On the Sharks' ensuing power play, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who was beaten on several high shots, made big saves on Couture and Patrick Marleau.

The Flyers were 14-0-1 when taking a lead into the third period this season.

The Flyers were whistled for four penalties for eight minutes in the third period.

When you take so many penalties, "you're going to be a little taxed and you're going to lose your rhythm and your bench is going to be a little short," Pronger said.

After a sluggish first period, the Flyers erupted for three goals within a 4:48 span of the second to take a 3-1 lead.

Giroux knocked in a rebound with 13:39 left in the period to knot the score at 1. It was his 14th goal; the center did not score his 14th until March 9 last season.

Leino, who missed the previous day's practice because of an illness, scored on a spin-around shot from the left circle to make it 2-1 with 9:40 remaining in the second.

Just 49 seconds after Leino's sixth goal, Nik Zherdev scored from the left side of the goal line, taking a hard-to-fathom pass from Matt Carle and ramming home a close shot.

Carle backhanded a pass past three defenders, through the legs of defenseman Dan Boyle, finding Zherdev to his left.

With 8:39 to go in the middle period, a wraparound attempt by Scott Nichol bounced off the skate of teammate John McCarthy and past Bobrovsky. But the goal was overturned after a review showed McCarthy kicked the puck into the net.

Scott Hartnell made it 4-1 by tapping in a rebound off a Carle shot with 13:45 left in regulation. A little over a minute later, San Jose's Jason Demers cut it to 4-2 by firing a shot past a screened Bobrovsky and triggering a furious rally.

San Jose scored two of its goals after winning face-offs; the Sharks won 63 percent of the draws.