in the 76th. Quaresma, the mercurial playmaker, finished off a flowing mo

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Nicklas Backstrom scored the winning goal in the shootout to lead the Washington Capitals to their first win in San Jose in more than 20 years, 3-2 over the Sharks on Saturday night. Eric Fehr and Chris Brown scored in regulation for the Capitals, who had lost 11 times and tied once since winning their first game at the Shark Tank on Oct. 30, 1993. This is only Washingtons second win in its last 19 games overall against San Jose. Braden Holtby made 34 saves in his first start since March 6 in place of the banged-up Jaroslav Halak. Patrick Marleau and James Sheppard scored for the Sharks, who missed a chance to clinch their 10th straight playoff berth. Antti Niemi made 23 saves. Evgeny Kuznetsov put the Capitals ahead in the shootout when he scored in the opening round. But Marleau tied it in the third round before Backstrom beat Niemi for the winner. The Capitals had lost five straight shootouts while San Jose had won seven in a row in the tiebreaker. The Sharks appeared poised to clinch the playoffs when Sheppard blocked a shot by Jason Chimera early in the third period and then scored on a breakaway against Holtby to put San Jose up 2-1. But the Capitals got the equalizer when they got a fortunate bounce with 7:30 remaining. Dustin Penner took the puck from Scott Hannan behind the net and fed Brown, whose shot deflected off defenceman Dan Boyle and past Niemi for his first career goal. The Sharks lost two of three on this homestand, beating Anaheim in a showdown for first place in between losses to Washington and Florida — two Eastern Conference teams out of playoff position. San Jose is three points ahead of the Ducks in the Pacific Division although Anaheim has two games in hand. The game was more crucial to Washingtons playoff hopes. The Capitals have earned points in five straight games to tie Detroit for eighth place in the East with 79 points. The Red Wings have two games in hand. The Capitals jumped on top with help from a lucky bounce and a strong forecheck. Jason Chimera got the puck away from Logan Couture along the boards to set up Fehr for a shot that was blocked. Justin Braun tried to clear the puck out of danger, but it hit teammate Matt Nieto in the leg and bounced into the net for a goal credited to Fehr. Nieto helped the Sharks tie it in the closing seconds of the period when he put a wraparound attempt on net following a turnover by Mike Green. Holtby made the save on the initial shot, but Marleau knocked in the rebound following a scramble for 30th goal with 5.6 seconds remaining. NOTES: Marleau has seven career 30-goal seasons. ... The Capitals have as many wins (two) in the Cow Palace, where the Sharks played their first two seasons, as they have at the Shark Tank, which opened in 1993-94. ... This game finishes a stretch where the Sharks played 13 of 14 games against the Eastern Conference. They wont play the East again this season unless they make the Stanley Cup finals. Stitched Blue Jays Jerseys . For Bergevin, the best pick is the 30th — which traditionally goes to the Stanley Cup winner. "Thats our goal. Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys . The club announced Friday that Mauro Biello will be kept on as an assistant to coach Jesse Marsch when the Impact join the MLS in 2012. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ . He was signed to help with depth to the receiving corps because of the loss of Shamawd Chambers to the 6-game injured list. Toronto Blue Jays Shirts . Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead in the 47th minute before goals by substitutes Carlton Cole and Joe Cole condemned Fulham to a fifth straight defeat, keeping the visitors in the bottom three. Blue Jays Jerseys 2019 . Monta Ellis had 30 points and nine assists, Nowitzki was another of seven Dallas players in double figures with 11 points and the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-104 Tuesday night.Andrea Pirlos sumptuous free kick earned Juventus a place in the Europa League quarterfinals, where the competition favourites were joined in an attractive lineup by Sevilla after its penalty-shootout win over fierce Spanish rival Real Betis on Thursday. Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. Having drawn 1-1 at home in the first leg, Juve was staring at elimination on the away-goals rule until Fiorentina defender Gonzalo Rodriguez was dismissed in the 69th minute for a second booking. From the resulting free kick at the edge of the area, Pirlo stepped up and whipped a brilliant strike into the top corner to seal a 1-0 win. The classy Italy midfielder shows no sign of decline at the age of 34 -- he scored a similarly sublime free kick for his team in a last-gasp league win over Genoa on Sunday, which kept Juve 14 points clear in Serie A and on course to defend its title. Juventus will be hosting the Europa League final on May 14 and the runaway Italian league leader may yet be playing in the showpiece match in front of its own fans. Sevilla overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit courtesy of goals by Jose Antonio Reyes and Carlos Bacca, earning a 2-0 win that sent the match to penalties. Sevillas first spot kick by Vitolo was saved but Alfred NDiaye and Nono failed to find the target with Betis last two attempts, putting the two-time winners through 4-3 on penalties. Benfica remained on course for a return to the final after surviving a late fightback by Tottenham to draw 2-2 in their second leg and advance 5-3 on aggregate. Two goals in less than two mminutes by Nacer Chadli put Spurs 2-1 ahead on the night and gave them 11 minutes to score another, which would have forced extra time.dddddddddddd The English team missed a number of chances before conceding a penalty deep into injury time, converted by Lima. There was no repeat of the touchline spat between rival coaches Jorge Jesus and Tim Sherwood form the first leg -- Sherwood opted to sit in the stands and stay out of trouble. Portos 1-0 lead from its first leg against Napoli was wiped out by Goran Pandevs deft finish in the 21st minute. The Italian side dominated but was picked off on counterattacks through goals by Nabil Ghilas in the 69th and Ricardo Quaresma in the 76th. Quaresma, the mercurial playmaker, finished off a flowing move by jinking between two defenders and slamming a shot high into the net for the goal of the evening. Duvan Zapatas consolation goal earned Napoli a 2-2 draw but it exited 3-2 on aggregate, denying coach Rafael Benitez the opportunity to retain the title he won when in interim charge of Chelsea last season. Players were taken off the pitch by the referee for about 10 minutes midway through the first half of Salzburg-Basel after missiles, including fireworks, were thrown onto the field of play by Basel fans. The score was 1-0 to Salzburg at the time after Jonatan Sorianos competition-high eighth goal in the Europa League, while Basel was down to 10 men after Marek Suchys straight red in the ninth minute. However, Marco Streller and Gaston Sauro scored headed goals in the second half for the Swiss team and Salzburg also ended the match with 10 men after Alan received a second yellow card for trying a bicycle kick and hitting Basel defender Philipp Degen in the face. Lyon lost 2-1 at Viktoria Plzen but advanced 5-3 on aggregate, Valencia beat Ludogorets Razgrad 1-0 thanks to Paco Alcacers 59th-minute goal and advanced 4-0 on aggregate. AZ Alkmaar drew 0-0 at Anzhi Makhachkala for a 1-0 aggregate victory. ' ' '