1998-03-12 04:00:00 PDT New York -- There's no question a steady diet of penalties led to the Sharks' demise last night. But whether those calls were the work of referee Don Koharski's imagination gone amok or just plain lazy play by

San Jose depends on one's point of view.

One thing is certain: The New York Rangers hit the Sharks with three power-play goals -- including two during a 27-second span in the second period -- to come up with a 5-3 win at Madison Square Garden, sending the Sharks three-game winning streak up in smoke.

Steam was seeping from Sharks coach Darryl Sutter's head when he assessed the damage. He admitted that a tripping/obstruction call on defenseman Mike Rathje, sending him back to the penalty box six seconds after he'd come out of it and leading to Wayne Gretzky's five-on-three goal, was cheesy.

However, Sutter had more qualms with his guys than Koharski, who had incarcerated Bill Houlder eight seconds before Rathje's initial infraction had lapsed.

"All six penalties were by defensemen," Sutter said. "That's not a coincidence. . . . they were flat-out penalties. Some of those guys weren't very good tonight. A big part of the obstruction penalties is position, especially for defensemen. (Marty) McSorley takes a penalty on a four on four, that's bad to take. They went into a five on three."

The interference infraction by McSorley -- with Marcus Ragnarsson already in the box -- led to New York scoring its first two-man-up goal of the game, Alexander Kovalev one-timing a shot from the right- wing circle with 51.3 seconds left in the opening period to tie the game at 1-1. Rathje collided with Kovalev trying to enter the fray after leaving the box, then the Rangers responded with Gretzky's goal at 8:45 of the second, and it was 2-2.

"I wasn't trying to trip the guy," Rathje said. "I was trying to protect the puck. I don't know what happened. . . . It's stupid.

I wanted to get out there and get the puck and all of sudden, I'm back in the penalty box. It's frustrating."

Veteran Sharks center Bernie Nicholls, never one to hold back his opinion, was slightly more than flustered. In fact, he unloaded a diatribe that could very well result in a call from the suits in the NHL offices.

"That's why our league is going backward, because of f -- calls like that," Nicholls said. "That's what the league wants, then it's never going to get better. Two five on threes on horse -- calls? That's what (NHL director of hockey operations) Brian Burke and (commissioner) Gary Bettman want. . . . Two really, really questionable calls. That's unbelievable. . . . If that's what Burke and Bettman want, they've got a serious problem. . . . That's what Brian Burke wants, they're in New York.

"They want to make changes, changes, changes. . . . What should be changed is the f -- guys running it. That's why the league is in serious trouble. You want more scoring, don't give it to them. Let them earn it. (The penalties) turned the game around -- changed the momentum and turned it right around."

No fooling. The Sharks had taken a 2-1 lead on scores by Tony Granato and Owen Nolan, who later repeated the feat and didn't hit the post, crossbar or someone's beer in the 10th row for a change. But Adam Graves capped the Rangers' power-play show by beating goalie Kelly Hrudey from his glove side at 9:12 of the second, and New York went ahead to stay.

The Sharks couldn't fault a striped shirt for what transpired in the third period -- leaky defense opened the gates for a pair of two- on-one New York scores. P.J. Stock created a rush when be passed the puck to himself by banking it off the boards in his own end, then grabbing it back near the blue line. He set up Vladimir Vorobiev, who knocked his shot in at 7:46. Niklas Sundstrom converted a Gretzky feed just 35 seconds later.

Amazingly, those goals came with the teams skating five a side.

"Yeah, the power play was great and the difference in the game," said Rangers goalie Mike Richter. "We moved the puck really well."

Asked how he felt about Koharski and his calls, Richter smiled and said. "We won. It was super."

Not for the Sharks it wasn't.

NOTE: San Jose left wing Murray Craven sat out with a sore neck, incurred during Monday's win over Toronto, Craven is iffy for tonight's game at Buffalo but said he'd positively be able to return against Carolina Saturday night.