By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — After losing to one of the bottom teams in the NHL in Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday to cap off the seven game road trip, San Jose Sharks failed to return to their winning ways when they fell to another Eastern Conference outsider Florida Panthers, and this time at home. They twice came back from behind and did  salvage a point, but still lost 3-2 in the shootout.

What seemed like the turning point in the game came when there was only six minutes left to play and the scale was turning in the Sharks favor. Trailing the Panthers 2-1 in what was a close game up to this point, Patrick Marleau had two great chances to tie the game for the Sharks. First chance came on a breakaway when he used his speed and stick skills to blow past Florida defense and only had the netminder Roberto Luongo to beat. He had the momentum and the Tank was about to explode, but a stick from behind stopped Marleau right as he approached the net. The referee called a penalty shot and Marleau got to try his trick again. This time he went to his left (he was heading right on the previous place) but the puck got too close to Luongo who denied him with a poke check, leaving the Sharks trailing.

But Marleau got another chance to shine in the game.

With the home team desperate and their net empty for another skater, it was Patrick Marleau, again, and of all people, who came through and tied it at last on a pass from the corner by Joe Thornton from just below the face-off circle.

Sharks saved the point, but not the victory, as they fell in the shootout when Florida’s game hero Nick Bjugstad who already had two goals in the game to his name, helped Florida secure the victory with the game deciding shootout goal.

And that was not that much different from how the game went overall.

The contest got off to a rough start for the Sharks when it was Panthers who got on board first and early. It happened just 24 seconds in the game when the first puck went in from Bjugstad as a redirect of a long shot from Dmitriy Kulikov. It didn’t look all that dangerous but when the puck changed directions, it went into the net between Antti Niemi’s pads and it was likely too close for him to have the time to react.

Sharks tied the game close to halfway in the second period when Logan Couture scored his eighth goal of the season on the power play. Panthers penalty kill struggled on Tuesday against LA Kings, allowing three goals, and it continued to leak against the Sharks who generated multiple scoring chances just prior to the goal. Joe Pavelski was the one who put the original puck on the net, causing Roberto Luongo to spread on the ice trying to make a save, and it was Couture who pushed the rebound into an open net, breaking the ice for Sharks offense that look potent but unable to put one into the net up to this point.

But the Florida went on to score again towards the end of that period, when Bjustad lit the lamp with blast of a shot from just above the face-off circle, on a power play.

San Jose Sharks spent a lot of time on the road, and did show some rust at times on Thursday. But the next five games are still at home, and they will need to improve in their play and execution if they are to make the home stand a success. They will next face Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.