SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Sharks missed a chance to build more of a cushion in the Pacific Division standings Sunday night before they begin their bye week.

As has been the case four other times this month, the loss came after regulation time.

Associated Press/Jeff Chiu Boston's Riley Nash, right, and San Jose's Brenden Dillon, 4, shove each other during the second period Sunday in San Jose, Calif. Boston won in overtime, 2-1.

Brad Marchand scored with 2:24 left in overtime as the Sharks lost, 2-1, to the Boston Bruins on Sunday at SAP Center.

Prior to Sunday, the Sharks had lost in shootout to the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 4 and in overtime to Buffalo on Feb. 7, Philadelphia on Feb. 11 and most recently, Florida on Feb. 15.

The Sharks will enter their five-day break with a four-point cushion over the second-place Edmonton Oilers.

Patrick Marleau scored the Sharks’ only goal, netting his 21st this season and the 502nd of his NHL career with 2:23 to go in the second period.

On a 4-on-4 situation, a shot from Brent Burns went off the leg of Torey Krug right to Marleau, who had a mostly open net as Tuukka Rask was unable to get over in time.

The Sharks allowed the first goal on home ice for the third straight game as Ryan Spooner was left alone right beside Martin Jones.

A shot by Adam McQuaid toward the Sharks’ net was collected by Jimmy Hayes, who spun around and put a shot wide. The puck came off the end boards right to an open Spooner, who tapped it in for his ninth goal of the season at the 11:05 mark of the first period.

Joe Thornton remained on the cusp of perhaps his most historic achievement as he’s still just two assists away from 1,000 for his NHL career. The Sharks’ next game is Feb. 25 in Vancouver.

Thornton had 285 assists in seven-plus seasons with the Bruins from 1997-2005. Since coming to the Sharks on Nov. 30, 2005 in the biggest trade in team history, Thornton has 713 assists, including 34 this season.

Thornton entered Sunday on a five-game point streak. He had assists in four straight games and scored Feb. 9 against the Bruins at TD Garden.

The Sharks did not make any changes to their forward group from Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes, as Nikolay Goldobin dressed for his second straight game. Goldobin played 11:53 against the Coyotes and finished with four shots on goal, but was a spectator in the third period as coach Pete DeBoer shuffled his lines.

Melker Karlsson played on the second line with Marleau and Logan Couture and Chris Tierney played with Tomas Hertl and Joel Ward on the third line. Goldobin had 7:46 of ice time through two periods. Mikkel Boedker, who was also benched for the third period, had 9:13 of ice time through 40 minutes.

PREDATORS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3: After Columbus fought back from a two-goal deficit to tie the score early in the third period, Nashville kept up their intensity and Mattias Ekholm got them a win.

Ekholm scored his third goal of the season when he snapped off a shot from the slot after being set up nicely by Filip Forsberg 9:09 into the third, and the Predators held on for a victory in Colubmus, Ohio.

Backup goalie Juuse Saros stopped 35 shots in his sixth win of the season, and Nashville improved its position in a crowded race for the two Western Conference wild cards.

ISLANDERS 6, DEVILS 4: Ryan Strome had two goals and an assist to lead New York to a victory over New Jersey in New York.

John Tavares, Andrew Ladd, Casey Cizikas and Jason Chimera also scored to help the Islanders improve to 9-0-2 in their last 11 at home.

BLACKHAWKS 5, SABRES 1: Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist in his annual homecoming, leading Chicago to a win in Buffalo, New York.

Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews broke it open with second-period goals for Chicago, which won for the seventh time in eight games.

JETS 3, SENATORS 2: Josh Morrissey scored early in the third period to give Winnipeg a two-goal lead, and the Jets won in Ottawa, Ontario.

Morrissey made it 3-1 at 2:33 when his wrist shot from the blue line.

RED WINGS 5, PENGUINS 2: Tomas Tatar and Thomas Vanek scored early third-period goals to lead Detroit to a victory in Pittsburgh.

Nick Jensen and Steve Ott also scored and Luke Glendening added a late empty-netter for the Red Wings, who completed a back-to-back sweep of Washington and Pittsburgh, two of the top teams in the league. Petr Mrazek made 24 saves for his second win in as many days.

RANGERS 2, CAPITALS 1: Mats Zuccarello scored a third-period goal and Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves in host New York’s victory over Washington.

LIGHTNING 3, AVALANCHE 2: Jonathan Drouin stole the puck and scored 2:27 into overtime, and Tampa Bay recovered after blowing a two-goal lead to beat Colorado in Denver.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, HURRICANES 0: Connor Brown scored twice, Auston Matthews had a highlight-reel goal on a backhander as he was twirling down to the ice, and Toronto beat Carolina in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Related Stories