Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks staved off elimination Thursday night, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 in Game 5 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to put the series at a 3-2 advantage for Vegas. Martin Jones had arguably his best game of the series after being pulled in two of the previous contests and Tomas Hertl scored a pair of goals. Vegas netted a pair of power play goals on both of their man-advantage attempts.

San Jose looked to keep Vegas off the board in the opening minutes after allowing a goal in the opening seconds in every period of Game 4. They were up to the test, locking Vegas down and even scoring 1:16 into the game. Tomas Hertl beat Marc-Andre Fleury for his third goal of the playoffs, with Erik Karlsson picking up an assist.

The Sharks built on the rare lead in the series after trailing in every game except game one, scoring on Logan Couture’s third goal of the series after tucking in a loose puck when Timo Meier’s original shot sat between Fleury’s pads 11:06 into play.

Vegas picked up a goal after Evander Kane was given the gate for a high-sticking penalty with 1:43 left in the first period. On the ensuing power play the puck bounced off Reilly Smith’s skate with 30 seconds left in the frame to cut the Sharks lead to 2-1.

Barclay Goodrow tipped a Justin Braun shot past Fleury 12:22 into the second period for his first goal of the series, but that’d be it for scoring in the middle stanza. Vegas would score again 11:36 into the third period on Jonathan Marchessault’s second of the series after Erik Karlsson was given a questionable tripping penalty.

First, Jones made an unbelievable cross-crease save to keep out the tying goal, then Hertl allowed the Sharks to breath a little easier when he fired a rebound just outside the crease past Fleury for a 4-2 lead on the power play at the 14:45 mark. Logan Couture drew the penalty after being high-sticked. The centerman lost a couple teeth in the process, but at first glance, seemed to show the referees not calling a penalty while Couture lay on the ice. A conference of the officials ultimately yielded a power play for the Sharks.

Joe Pavelski added the empty-netter with 1:46 to ice the game. Jones made 30 saves to silence any doubters for one night.

Game 6 will be played Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, with the time to be determined. If a Game 7 is necessary, the series will shift back to San Jose Tuesday night.