Marleau scores in OT, rallying Sharks to 4-3 win over Red Wings and 3-0 series lead

Sharks beat Red Wings 4-3 in OT, lead series 3-0

DETROIT — Patrick Marleau scored 7:07 into overtime, lifting the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night and a 3-0 lead in the second-round series.

The Red Wings led 3-1 with 13 minutes left in regulation.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.

Game 4 is Thursday night in Detroit, where the Red Wings will try to stay alive.

“They didn’t have to win that one, they have to win the next one,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s when it becomes a must-win.”

The two-time defending Western Conference champions haven’t been swept since the first round in 2003 by Anaheim.

Joe Thornton scored 6:42 into the third to pull San Jose within a goal and Logan Couture tied it with 6:43 left.

Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary gave Detroit a 2-0 lead in the first. San Jose’s Devin Setoguchi scored with 4 seconds left in the period, but Henrik Zetterberg restored Detroit’s two-goal lead early in the second.

Detroit’s Jimmy Howard made 29 saves and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 32 shots for the Sharks.

The Red Wings would’ve had a bigger lead in the third period if not for a disallowed goal in the first.

Zetterberg had a goal negated by video review because the puck went in off his left skate in a distinct kicking motion. Zetterberg was also stopped by Nabokov on a penalty shot — awarded in the first when Couture made a rookie mistake of covering the puck in the crease with his glove.

Howard, though, could’ve made life easier for the Red Wings when they were clinging to a one-goal lead in the final minutes.

Couture sent the puck toward the net from the right corner, and Howard didn’t press his body firmly against the post. That allowed the tying goal to go off him and into the net.

Howard titled his head back and looked to the rafter-filled banners in disbelief.

“It’s a tough one,” Babcock said. “But he goalie picks you up a lot, too.”

Nabokov made a bunch of big stops, none bigger than grabbing Zetterberg’s backhander.

“That was a big wake-up call for us,” McLellan said.

Detroit did have a review go its way in the first period when the puck went off Holmstrom’s right skate, but the on-ice ruling of a goal stood.

Thornton, who is quieting talk about his lack of production in the postseason, set up the winning goal on a 2-on-1 rush. Thornton made a perfect pass to Marleau, who scored easily into an open net — past the desperate dive of Howard, who lunged with his stick.

“You saw a very determined nineteen,” said McLellan, referring to Thornton’s jersey number.

The crowd at Joe Louis Arena stood silently for a couple of minutes, knowing the Red Wings had fallen into a lot of trouble against the top-seeded Sharks.

San Jose was 0 for 6 on the power play in regulation and Detroit didn’t score on its two chances with an extra skater over the first three periods.

NOTES: San Jose’s Joe Pavelski, the first player since Mario Lemieux in 1992 to score more than once in three straight playoff games, had his five-game goal streak snapped. … U.S. viewership of the NHL playoffs is up 91 percent over the same period last year, the NHL announced Tuesday. Game 2 of the Red Wings-Sharks series averaged 1.772 million viewers on Versus to make it most-watched, second-round game on cable since the Red Wings-Avalanche series in 2000.