You guys were robbed of a potential push. I was impressed by the way the Caps fought back.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The puck bounced off Vincent Damphousse's glove and right onto Teemu Selanne's stick for the game-winning goal.
The Washington Capitals, who haven't seen any puck bounce their way all season, were furious -- but not surprised.
Selanne scored a power-play goal while tumbling to the ice with 3:39 left as the San Jose Sharks blew a three-goal lead but beat the Capitals 5-4 Friday night.
Jaromir Jagr scored his second goal of the night with 5:59 left to cap a tremendous comeback, but Selanne punched home a loose puck for his 24th goal of the season to give San Jose its fourth victory in five games.
The winning goal enraged the frustrated Capitals, who thought Damphousse made an illegal hand pass to Selanne. Coach Ron Wilson dispensed a difficult season's worth of anger in criticism of referees Mike Hasenfratz and Mike Leggo.
"It was a shame that they took a point away from us that we earned coming back," Wilson said. "It's like you deposit money in the bank, and then you go there the next day and they tell you they lost it, and it's your fault.
"That's what you get, no explanations from some of these guys, and it's disgusting. What are you going to do? What is (the league) going to do, give us a point? No. They should fire people like that."
With Washington's Colin Forbes in the penalty box, Selanne took a shot that bounced into the air in front of the net. The puck ricocheted off Damphousse's outstretched glove and across the crease, where Selanne beat goalie Olaf Kolzig while Sergei Gonchar checked him from behind.
"It wasn't even a question," center Adam Oates fumed. "You saw it -- it went off his hand. It changed direction. There's no in-between, it's the rules."
The Sharks saw it from a completely different perspective, claiming the contact was unintentional -- and anyway, not reviewable unless a hand-pass was called on the ice. Coach Darryl Sutter praised his star forwards' tenacity in front of the net that resulted in the goal.
"Our team has a tendency to score a handful of goals at a time," Sutter said. "A lot of our goals were scored on second efforts and rebounds and tough plays."
Selanne, who's finally heating up after a mediocre season, got a goal in each of the Sharks' victories during the string. The Finnish Flash also was San Jose's most active player, passing the puck well and generating scoring chances for his teammates.
"We can't play too defensive a style of hockey," Selanne said. "Every time you sit back and try to make sure they don't score, you get in trouble. We just have to stick with the game plan and not sit back."
Gonchar and Dainius Zubrus also scored for Washington, while Oates had three assists as the Capitals began an eight-game road trip that could make or break their playoff chances.
The Sharks matched their top defensive line against Jagr and Oates, but the Capitals' stars still had another outstanding game -- though not enough to make up for Washington's defensive lapses in the second period, when San Jose scored three straight goals.
"We had five guys based against Jagr all night," Sutter said. "We did a pretty good job, and still their line scored three goals. (Jagr) should win the scoring race. He can score in bunches, and I was hoping he'd wait until tomorrow."
Rookie Matt Bradley had a goal and an assist for San Jose. Jeff Jillson, Mike Ricci and Damphousse also scored during the seven-minute flurry in the second that gave San Jose a 4-1 lead.
But Gonchar got his 22nd goal late in the second, and Zubrus pulled the Caps within a goal before Oates found Jagr for his 26th goal.
The Sharks, playing their final game of the regular season against an Eastern opponent, increased their Pacific Division lead over Los Angeles and Phoenix to five points. San Jose is in a stretch of four home games in six days.
The loss kept the Capitals in a tie for 10th place in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the eighth-place New York Rangers.
