Sharks weather delays to beat Blue Jackets 3-1

SAN JOSE - The San Jose Sharks had to deal with a pair of unexpected delays Thursday night in their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

They responded to both just fine.

Tomas Hertl scored twice, including an empty-netter with 0.8 seconds left, and David Schlemko had two assists as the Sharks earned a 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets for their third straight win on home ice.

San Jose’s first two goals came from its second power play unit, as Joonas Donskoi scored with 7:01 to go in the first period and Hertl scored with 7:55 to go in the third.

Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped the first 23 shots he faced before Scott Hartnell scored with 2:50 to go in the game to cut the lead to one. Jones finished with 24 saves as he improved his record this year to 4-3.

The Sharks thought they had a two-goal lead earlier in the third after Brenden Dillon’s shot from inside the blue line got through traffic and past Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

But after a coach’s challenge from Columbus’s John Tortorella, and a roughly five-minute delay, it was ruled that earlier in the sequence, Chris Tierney was offside.

Play was also halted with 2:42 left in the second period as the lights that illuminate the ice surface inexplicably went out, leaving other house lights to keep the arena from going totally dark. Officials decided, under rule 77.3, to proceed directly to the second intermission. After the intermission, the last 2:42 of the second period was completed before the teams switched sides and the third period began.