BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins are still searching for their first home victory of the season.
Sergei Samsonov scored with 13.4 seconds left in regulation, lifting Boston into a 5-5 tie with the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
Samsonov tied it when he chopped at the puck in front of the crease and it bounced past goalie Vesa Toskala. San Jose just missed its first win in Boston, where the Sharks are 0-7-3.
They have just one win in their last 11 games but are 1-0-3-1 in their last five. Six of the Sharks' last eight games have gone to overtime.
"Our team is playing a lot better than our record," Sharks forward Vincent Damphousse said. "It's too bad tonight we couldn't get it done. When they scored with 13 seconds left it was heartbreaking."
Despite outshooting the Sharks 52-23, the Bruins are still winless at home (0-1-2-1). They were shut out the previous two home games by Carolina and Montreal and haven't been winless through four games since 1965.
"I'm not concerned at all," Bruins assistant captain Sean O'Donnell said. "We'd like to be 4-0, but when you outshoot a team like that, what can you do? It was one of those games where whenever we made a mistake, they put it in."
Jonathan Cheechoo put the Sharks ahead 5-4 with nine minutes remaining in the third when his slap shot deflected off a Bruins defenseman and beat goalie Felix Potvin.
"I understand where we are on this road trip and how hard it is especially playing the Bruins," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "They hadn't played in hardly a week and it showed on us with the shots on goal."
After Mike Knuble and Wayne Primeau traded goals for a 3-2 Sharks lead, Glen Murray tied it 3-3 when he took a feed from Joe Thornton from behind the net and blasted a shot past Toskala at 15:22 of the second.
"It was kind of a throwback game," Knuble said. "It seemed whoever scored last would win the game and it is probably a good thing time ran out on us."
Patrice Bergeron scored Boston's second power-play goal of the period at 16:24 to put the Bruins ahead 4-3 and provide their first lead on home ice this season.
That was short-lived. The Sharks made it 4-4 when Scott Thornton scored his second of the night on the power play with 2:18 left in the second period.
Both Niko Dimitrakos and Scott Thornton scored between the legs of Potvin to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead by the 9:46 mark of the first period. The Sharks had two goals on their first four shots.
Ian Moran cut the lead to 2-1 when he wristed a shot over the left shoulder of Toskala with 8:59 remaining in the first period. Moran's goal was his first in 130 games.
San Jose came into the game 1-for-22 on the power play over the last seven games, but scored a pair of power-play goals.
Thornton and Knuble had two assists apiece for Boston.
Notes
- Boston began the night third in the NHL in goals against average at 2.00, and second in save percentage at .931.
- Toskala made just his third start of the season.
- Kyle McLaren returned to Boston for the first time since being traded last season to San Jose for Jeff Hackett and Jeff Jillson.
- Boston recalled Zdenek Kutlak from Providence of the AHL.
- The Sharks (1-1-2-1) wrap up their seven-game road trip at Washington on Saturday.
- The Bruins have five power-play goals in the last five games.
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