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ByCurtisPashelka BayAreaNewsGroup BUFFALO, NEW YORK TheSharks' frustrationsagainsttheBuffaloSa- bres in Western New York contin- ued in the most unlikely way pos- sible Tuesday. The Sharks blew a three-goal lead in the third period, then lost for the 17th time in 19 games in Buffalo as Evander Kane scored 1:05 into overtime for a 5-4 Sabres win at KeyBank Center. TheSharkshadathreegoallead after Joe Pavelski's power play goal at the 6:07 mark of the third pe- riod. But the Sabres roared back with three goals in a span of 3:28. Ryan O'Reilly scored on the power play at the 9:03 mark to cut the Sharks' lead to 4-2. Evander Kane scored on a wraparound at the 11:36 mark, and just 55 second later,KyleOkposo'swristshotfrom in close got through Martin Jones to tie the game in blinding fashion. Sharks coach Pete DeBoer chal- lenged Kane's goal, arguing that the play started offside. But offi- cials ruled that replays were incon- clusive,markingthesecondtimein thegamethatadisputedgoalwent against the Sharks. In the first period, Timo Meier thought he had third of the season as he knocked a loose puck behind Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson. But officials concluded that the whistle ofrefereeMarcJoannettehadbeen blown before the puck crossed the goal line. After the first two periods, the Sharks looked to be in total con- trol, and came into Tuesday with a 22-2-1 record this season when leading after 40 minutes. NHL SHARKS BLOW THREE-GOAL LEAD, LOSE TO SABRES IN OT BuffalogoalieAndersNilssonisscreenedbytheSharks'Joe Thornton during the second period on Tuesday. PHOTOS BY JEFFREY T. BARNES — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Buffalo's Jake McCabe, foreground, and the Sharks' Joe Pavelski collide along the boards during the second period on Tuesday. By Paul Newberry The Associated Press FLOWERY BRANCH, GA. Sean Weatherspoon walked through the Atlanta Falcons locker room, shouting out to no one in par- ticular. "Hey, y'all don't forget about the good times!" he yelled, man- aging a big smile. There were a few chuckles, but it wasn't enough to change the mood. The Falcons are still trying to grasp how they let a Super Bowl championship slip away . Less than 48 hours after squandering a 25-point lead and losing in overtime to the New England Patriots, the play- ers were back together Tuesday to clean out their lockers and take care of other routine mat- ters before getting started on the offseason. Of course, this didn't feel rou- tine at all. Not with the way the season ended. "It just felt like it was a dream," defensive star Vic Bea- sley said. "But it's reality. You've just got accept it." The Falcons wasted no time addressing one of their biggest issues, hiring Steve Sarkisian as their new offensive coordinator . The former Washington and Southern Cal coach spent only one game as Alabama's offen- sive coordinator, calling plays for the Crimson Tide in their national championship loss to Clemson. Sarkisian replaced Kyle Sha- nahan , who left on Monday to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Meanwhile, the players filled trash bags with items they no longer needed, signed footballs and helmets for each other, and made plans for getting together in the weeks to come. Some of them won't be back next season. That made this day sting even more. "It's hard to say, but it's over," kicker Matt Bryant said. "Now, it's time to get ready for the next season." SUPER BOWL LI Falcons begin process of getting over historic loss By Daniel Brown Bay Area News Group OAKLAND Stephen Curry might as well have been in a rocking chair Tuesday when he started spinning yarns about a bygone era. He harked back to the days of yore when the Warriors actually had a thing called a regular-sea- son losing streak. "In those days, you showed up and, even if you played your A+ game, you might not have enough talent to get the win," Curry said Tuesday. "That's a very tough emo- tional battle to have." Over the past few years, the Warriors have essentially banned losing streaks from the building. Golden State, which lost Sat- urday to the Sacramento Kings, heads into Wednesday night's game against the Chicago Bulls having not lost back-to-back reg- ular-season games since April 5-7, 2015. They have gone 137 consecutive regular-season games without two straight losses. That's an NBA re- cord by far. The next closest is the Utah Jazz, who went 95 games be- tween 1997-99. "It's really a remarkable streak," Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said after practice. "I don't know how much longer it's going to last. I'm not trying to jinx us but it's an in- credible feat." To go longer than what the Warriors have done, you have to change sports, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Montreal Canadiens went 164 games from 1962-64 without consecutive set- backs, although they had the ben- efit of 39 ties along the way. The longest streak in baseball? The Chicago Cubs, who went 97 games without back-to-back L's from 1906-07. In the NFL? The Green Bay Packers, 81 games from 1938-45. For Curry, Draymond Green and other team leaders, the streak is more than a footnote. They say part of the Warriors' culture is built around looking in the mir- ror when things go wrong. "It's everything. And it's the experiences we've been through," Curry said. "It's just the founda- tion we've built about how we play. It's hard to get too far off of that wagon before we get back on track." Green said: "I think it helps when you don't have to worry about losing streaks and every- body's getting frustrated and pointing fingers at each other. I think it definitely does help … Guys know how to deal with stuff immediately and correct it." Bouncing back from a lacklus- ter Kings loss last weekend will be the latest test. The Warriors are 7-0 this season after losing the previous game and in those seven games they average 120.4 points per game while shooting 51.9 per- cent from the floor. These are the scoring averages for the Warriors key players after defeats this season: Curry (29.7), Kevin Durant (25.3) and Klay Thompson (23.7). In all, the Warriors average margin of victory after losses this season is 12.3. "I think we really rally around that next game after a loss, to use it as that short-term goal," Curry said. "That's the only thing that matters: To win a game tomorrow. So whatever it's going to take to get that job done, we have to be ready for it." NBA Ho w Wa rri or s essentially ba ni sh ed losing streaks Staff report OROVILLE The Corning Cardi- nals boys soccer team took a 2-1 win Thursday against the Las Plumas Thunderbirds, while the girls played to a scoreless tie against Las Plumas. Raul Arent and Felipe Arballo scored for the Cardinals, both in the second half. Arent made his only shot, while Arballo took 4 shots. Vitor Marques scored the sole Thunderbirds goal, also in the second half. Cardinals goal- keeper Cristian Gallardo had 11 saves for the win. Las Plumas goalkeeper Jacob Coffer had 7 saves. The Cardinals (10-5 overall, 2-2 league) were scheduled to face the Oroville Tigers (1-16-2 overall, 0-3-1 league) Tuesday evening in Oroville. LadyCardinals0,Las Plumas0 OROVILLE The Lady Cardinals played even with the Thunder- birds, getting the draw. Freshman Nayeli Lara took 6 shots on goal and Heidi Magana had 2, while goal tender Anna Reynolds recorded 2 saves. Brisa Martinez was a defensive standout with 13 steals, followed by Alicia Valdovines and Masiel Anaya with 8 each. The Lady Cardinals (6- 6-2 overall, 3-1-1 league) were scheduled to face the Oro- ville Tigers (8-10-2 overall, 3-5 league) Tuesday afternoon in Oroville. Spartans 2, Chico 4 RED BLUFF The Red Bluff Spar- tans boys team fell 4-2 at home Friday night to the Chico Pan- thers. As of Monday night no stats had been posted. The Spartans (9-7-2 overall, 2-5-1 league) will travel to Palo Cedro Wednesday for a 6 p.m. game against the Foothill Cougars (1-15 overall, 0-8 league). Lady Spartans 1, Chico 2 CHICO The Red Bluff Lady Spar- tans came up short Friday on the road against the Chico Panthers, 2-1. Both teams scored in the first half and the Panthers tacked on a goal in the second half for the win. Karissa Mena scored for the Spartans with an assist from Me- gan Thompson. Rosy Alfaro took 2 shots on goal and Thompson and Mena each took 1. Goalkeeper Grace Thornton had 7 saves in the loss. The Lady Spartans (7-8-4 over- all, 1-4-3 league) are scheduled to host the Foothill Cougars (2- 9-2 overall, 0-7-1 league) at 6 p.m. Wednesday. SOCCER Cardinalsboyswin,girlstieatOroville FALCONS PAGE 4 SHARKS PAGE 4 Spartans boys, girls take losses against Chico San Jose allowed three goals in third period SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, February 8, 2017 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1