Category: NHL

Sharks can’t capitalize on chances in Game 1 loss

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By: Eric He

AP photo: St Louis Blues teammates congratulate goaltender Brian Elliott (1) after game one victory over the San Jose Sharks during Sunday’s Western Conference Final game

The Sharks put the pressure on the Blues in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in St. Louis, but couldn’t finish on enough scoring chances in a 2-1 loss to start the seven game series.

Jon Lehtera scored the game-winning goal for the Blues midway through the second period, taking advantage of a turnover by Brent Burns in the defensive zone. Lehtera’s slap shot found its way past Martin Jones on a shot the Sharks’ goaltender would like to have back.

Turnovers were the theme of the night for the Sharks, who gifted the Blues several scoring opportunities. But the Sharks still found themselves down by just a goal late in the third. They pulled Jones with over two minutes to play and put a barrage of shots in on Blues’ goaltender Brian Elliot, but could not find the back of the net.

The Sharks never held the lead in the game, falling behind five minutes in on a power play goal by David Backes in the first period. Though, they responded 34 seconds later when Brent Burns’ shot from the point deflected off Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl into the net — Hertl was credited with the goal.

San Jose, boasting a dangerous power play, went 0-for-3 on the man advantage in Game 1, thought it outshot St. Louis 32-23.

Still, the Sharks weren’t able to come up with a goal to force overtime and drop the first game of a series for the first time this postseason.

Game 2 will be Tuesday at 5 P.M.

Sharks and Blues: Western Conference Final Preview

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

AP photo: St Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott stops a shot from the San Jose Sharks Patrick Marleau 12 as Blues defenceman Cotton Parayko 55 watches on Sunday night in the third period

The Western Conference Final is upon us. Past results reveal that the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues have followed very similar paths to this point, and neither team is a clear choice for favorite. Even intangibles cannot give us a hint. Both San Jose and St. Louis are hungry for success. The Sharks have never made it to the Stanley Cup Final, and the Blues have not been there since 1970. They both unseated recent Cup winners in the first round. They both defeated up and coming teams in the second round, by the a five goal margin, in the seventh game. The likeness is uncanny, and utterly proper. The final teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs should be equals, it is only right that the results be entirely unpredictable. The results of the Stanley Cup Final could be easier to predict, especially with the Eastern teams taking such heavy casualties after just one game. I predict that the Western team will win the Cup, and that team will be from a city named after a saint.

A glance at the current NHL Leaderboard shows three Sharks leading in playoff scoring categories. In points, goals, and assists, Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns top those charts. Logan Couture is in the top three in all of those categories, while Pavelski and Burns are top five in two. The Blues have two players in each of these categories, with Vladimir Tarasenko listed in the top five in points and goals, Robby Fabbri top ten in points and assists, and David Backes ranked fifth in goals. The teams are pretty close when it comes to high ranking for their top scorers.

Those numbers tell us which players the opponent will zero in on defensively. They also tell us, by omission, which players previous opponents probably spent most of their defensive energy on. For the Sharks, Joe Thornton did not rack up quite as many points as he might be expected to, especially being one of Joe Pavelski’s linemates. Joel Ward fell from fifth to eighth on the team in goals. Tomas Hertl dropped from fourth to ninth on the team in goals. Patrick Marleau should have produced more, especially since he spent so much time not on a line with Couture or Thornton. I say that because he should have been able to slip under the radar of the Kings or the Predators, if the top lines drew top defense away. So either Marleau did get the defensive attention he can deserve, or he just was not playing that well. Either way, he is one who could suddenly start producing in this series.

Even if underproducing players do not break out, how many goal scorers has it taken to get the Sharks this far, compared to the Blues? The Sharks have seven players with three or more goals in these playoffs. Apart from the league leaders mentioned above, the Sharks have four goals from Marleau, three each from Thornton, Chris Tierney, and Joonas Donskoi. Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl and Melker Karlsson have two each. Matt Nieto and Tommy Wingels each have one tally.

For the Blues, eight players have scored three or more goals. Tarasenko has seven, Backes has six, Troy Brouwer has five, Alexander Steen and Patrik Berglund each have four, while Robby Fabbri, Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stasny each have three. Seven more St. Louis skaters have one or two goals. During the regular season, Tarasenko also led his team in goals, and the rest of the top six were essentially the same as they have been in the playoffs: Backes, Brouwer, Fabbri and Steen.

Though none of the Blues defensemen can challenge Brent Burns in the scoring department, St. Louis has gotten more points from their defense than the Sharks have. They have four defensemen with four or more points, Kevin Shattenkirk leading there with ten points. The Sharks have four defensemen with three or more points, Justin Braun and Paul Martin having just three.

The Blues have three more goal scorers than the the Sharks have, but the Sharks have scored .28 more goals per game. The Blues have given up a few more goals (2.43) than the Sharks have (2.33), if you go by games played. One could argue that the Sharks should not have it held against them that they did not give up goals in games they did not play by defeating the Kings so quickly. But since the Blues and the Sharks will play the same number of games in this series, games played is probably a better measure than total goals against.

The Sharks’ 30.9% power play is the best among teams in the final four. The Blues are right behind them with a 27.5% success rate. The Sharks’ penalty kill is a couple of ranking spots higher than the Blues, with San Jose at 82.3% and St. Louis at 79.5%. Either of those special team rankings could be reversed in the course of a single game, so again the teams are darn close.

The Blues gave up more shots (31.3) per game than the Sharks did (28.5) , but not many more. The Blues played Chicago and Dallas, while the Sharks played Los Angeles and Nashville. The habits of their respective opponents may have skewed those figures. During the regular season games, the Sharks consistently outshot the Blues, but usually by a fairly small margin.

In the playoffs, faceoff win percentages are be heavily influenced by the opponent, but it is still worth looking at. The Blues have been better at 50.7 % than the Sharks at 46.2%. Both teams were better during the regular season, but the Blues were a little better there too at 51.3% to the Sharks’ 50.7%. Thornton and Hertl are the only Sharks who have won better than 50% of their faceoffs in the first two rounds, and Hertl has only taken 20 draws. For the Blues, Paul Stastny, David Backes and Jori Lehtera took the lion’s share of faceoffs in both the regular season and the playoffs, and all three are over 50%. Paul Stastny won an impressive 59% of his draws in the first two rounds.

Could it come down to goaltending? Brian Elliott gives the Blues and edge in save percentage (.929-.918), Jones has the edge in goals against average (2.16-2.29), and they each have one shutout. Elliott is the more seasoned starter, but he has never gotten so far in the playoffs. Jones has seen his team win a Cup, but was only there as a backup. Both teams have above-average backups, but only the Blues’ Jake Allen saw any ice time in the first two rounds. Again, and again and again, the Sharks and the Blues look so close on paper that neither clearly has an edge.

The victor will be the team that bests their best first.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Daniel Dullum: Sharks Pavelski key reason why their here; Bolts goalie back up Vasilevsky holds Pens

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AP photo: Tampa Bay Lighting goalie Andre Vasilevsky

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Daniel the San Jose Sharks and the St Louis Blues face off for game one on Sunday and  Daniel says yes this one could go six to seven games. For the Sharks captain Joe Pavelski has scored a NHL post season leading nine goals and has been the key reason why the Sharks have been in the thick of these playoffs look for them to make a lot of noise going into Western Conference Finals.

In the NHL Eastern Conference Finals the Tampa Lighting will be playing game two without their starting goaltender Ben Bishop who suffered a leg injury in game one against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Bishop is hoping to rehab quickly so he can get right back into action. In the meantime the Bolts back up goalie Andre Vasilevsky stepped up in game one after Bishop left and made 25 saves against the great offensive talents of the Penguins shooters Sid Crosby, Kris Letang, and Marc Andre Fluery.

Daniel reviews the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs next week on the podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: It’s going to be a rough and tumble physical series between Sharks-Blues

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photo by New England Sports Network: The San Jose Sharks congratulate each other after game 7 victory last Thursday at SAP Center in San Jose

On the San Jose Sharks podcast Mary Lisa discusses game seven Thursday night at SAP Center between the Sharks and the Nashville Predators and it was kind of stunner you would not expect that kind of a game with a 5-0 result and just the way the Sharks completely dominated the Predators and the thing that came to mind was “gosh what took you so long?” You get to the seventh game and you could beat them like that. Obviously everybody has their off days and it was an off day for the Preds the Sharks were just all over them.

The St.Louis Blues are up next for the Sharks and most of the statistics have the Blues and the Sharks facing each other and in the regular season the Sharks did quite well against the Blues. The Sharks went 2-1 of the three meetings between the two teams. Everything the power play, the penalty kill, everything the Sharks are doing they’re way at the top in these playoffs.

Listen to Mary Lisa she has more on the Sharks playoff podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Finish Off Preds With 5 Goal Shutout

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

AP photo: San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski scores first goal of the game in the first period against the Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber at SAP Center Thursday night

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks came up with a resounding Game Seven win against the Nashville Predators on Thursday. The 5-0 victory means that the Sharks will advance to face the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Finals. It is somewhat surprising that both of the NHL’s 2016 Western Conference finalists won their second round series in Game Sevens by a margin of five goals. After the Blues defeated Dallas on Wednesday 6-1, the odds had to be long against the Sharks accomplishing a similar feat a day later. But they did.

It has been a while since the Sharks went to the Conference Final. The Sharks’ Logan Couture offered an insight into how he is approaching the next step:

My first two years we made it to Conference Finals, you think it’s easy. You think it’s going to come every year and it doesn’t. So I think it makes you realize that you’ve really got to take advantage of the chances that you do. When you get there you have a very good team, you’ve got to take advantage of it.

A 5-0 victory was not what anyone expected between San Jose and Nashville in Game 7. The teams were pretty well matched through six games, and had fought their way to a third overtime period once. Martin Jones played well, but only faced 20 shots, 12 of those coming in the third period. Nashville’s Pekka Rinne was relieved half way through the third period. The Sharks’ best players were their best players, while Nashville’s were not. Sharks goals came from five different players and the power play to boot. Logan Couture set a new franchise record for points in a playoff series with his eleventh on Thursday.

After the game, Joe Thornton pointed to the Sharks’ depth as key to the win and the series success:

We roll four lines, we roll 16. I think we have so much trust with each other that whoever goes over that board we just have confidence will do the job. You saw it tonight.

A quick look at the game stats reveals a comparatively flat ice time distribution for the Sharks forwards. Thornton saw the most ice time at 17:04, while Dainius Zubrus had the least at 12:58. The confidence and trust that Thornton describes seems to be well placed. None of the lines looked particularly vulnerable against the Predators on Thursday.

It was hard to reconcile the Sharks team we saw Thursday with the one seen in Nashville on Monday, when the Predators came away with the overtime win in Game 6. Logan Couture explained:

I think guys just wanted to get out there and put that game six behind us and move on and we were saying just establish the forecheck, get it in on their D. Make this building tough to play in like it’s been in the past and that’s what we did.

Tommy Wingels was back in the lineup after sitting out two games. He had a nice breakaway early in the first. His shot bounced out of Rinne’s glove for an enticing rebound, but no one was there to take advantage of it for the Sharks. That was slightly anomalous for the first five minutes of the game, as the Sharks outshot the Predators 6-1. The teams spent the majority of that time in the Nashville zone.

The Sharks got their first power play at 8:22 of the period, at which time the Predators still only had one shot on goal. It was a cruel but bloodless penalty for the Predators: Viktor Arvidsson went to the box for sending the puck over the glass. The Sharks had a hard time getting their power play rolling. In the first 12 seconds, they struggled to keep the puck in, then the Predators sent it onto the bench and they just could not get things going.

25 or so seconds later, Thornton made a pass from the half wall to Marlowe on the goal line. Marlowe made a quick pass back up to Pavelski in front of the net and Pavelski put it home on the far top corner. It was Pavelski’s ninth goal of the playoffs. Assists went to Marlowe and Thornton.

The Predators took their second shot some time in the tenth minute of the period. They still had not taken a third when Marc-Edouard Vlasic knocked the puck off a Nashville stick. Melker Karlsson picked it up and sent Joel Ward in on a breakaway. Ward skated around defender Roman Jossi, then delayed long enough to draw Rinne out of the crease, and put the puck behind the goalie to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead. There were just over three minutes remaining in the first. Assists went to Melker Karlsson. It was Ward’s second goal of the playoffs.

With 1:38 remining in the first, Nashville’s Shea Weber went to the box for interference against Dainius Zubrus, giving the Sharks a second power play. The Sharks did not score, leaving just 22 seconds on the power play to start the second period.

At the end of the first, the shots were 17-3 San Jose. In the faceoff circle, the Sharks imnproved significantly over previous games in this series, winning 67% of the draws.

The Sharks did not score during those last 22 seconds of power play time, but 14 seconds later Logan Couture picked up a misplayed puck and skated in to score his seventh of the playoffs.

The Sharks followed that up with a tremendous couple of minutes, capped by an attack from San Jose’s fourth line that had Pekka Rinne all out of sorts. A couple of chances found Rinne out of his net but the puck bounced over the cross bar each time.

Five minutes into the second period, the Sharks were leading by three goals and 13 shots. Twelve minutes in and the Predators were looking completely overmatched. The Sharks did not exactly ressemble the Globetrotters but they were moving the puck around the Nashville zone without much resistance at all. Nashville blocked their shots and kept them away from rebounds, but that seemed to be all they could do.

At the end of the second period, Mattias Ekholm was called for cross-checking Tommy Wingels, so the Sharks started the third on another power play.

32 seconds into that power play, the Sharks entered the zone four on one. Logan Couture had a chance to carry the puck into the slot and take a shot. The puck hit Rinne’s pads and stalled just outside the goal line, and Joe Thornton was right there to touch it in the rest of the way. It was Thornton’s third of the post season, and Couture received the only assist.

If a three goal lead is dangerous, then you could say that Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture put the game back into the safe zone fifth goal at 3:54 of the third. A quick pass up ice from Joonas Donskoi sent Marleau and Couture away on a two on one. The Sharks skaters played the puck back and forth and got Rinne sliding across. Marleau put the puck over him for his fourth of the playoffs.

Carter Hutton came in to replace Rinne after that.

With 5:26 to go in the game, Sharks defenseman Justin Braun was called for interference, giving the Predators their first power play, but it did not change the outcome.

The Sharks will start their series against the Blues on Sunday in St. Louis at 5:00 PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Preds-Sharks game seven could very well be one for the ages and maybe for overtime too

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AP photo: Nashville Predators center Colin Wilson 33 celebrates with teammates after scoring game winning overtime goal on Monday night beating the San Jose Sharks in game six

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa the Nashville Predators force the Sharks into a game seven after Viktor Arvidsson’s overtime game winning goal to give the Predators a 4-3 victory in Nashville on Monday night. The two clubs get some rest before game seven scheduled on Thursday night at SAP Center in San Jose. Sharks goalie Martin Jones allowed four goals in Monday’s game six but his defense was out of place when those goals found the back of the net.

With the series tied at 3-3 Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer has some concerns to strengthen the defense and to capitalize on the Preds during five on four power plays. DeBoer whose been here before with his old team the New Jersey Devils wants the Sharks to fight out of this one and be done with the second round to advance.

Mary Lisa talks Sharks playoff hockey on the podcast click below for a listen at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Podcast with Joe Lami: Game sevens to decide semi finalist Preds@Sharks; Blues@Stars

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On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe the San Jose Sharks are forced by the Nashville Predators into a seventh and deciding game on Thursday at SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks who took a 3-2 lead going into game six after a game five win 5-1 in San Jose were in another overtime situation in Nashville. With score tied up 3-3 the Predators Viktor Arvidsson scored at 2:03 of the overtime for the winning goal. This time unlike game three when it went into three overtimes the Preds were able to get it done in one overtime.

Joe also takes a look at other Stanley Cup matches St Louis and Dallas in their game seven on Wednesday, Tampa Bay’s 4-1 series win over the NY Islanders, and the Pittsburgh Penguins leading the Washington Caps 3-2 with game six in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

Listen to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Categories NHL

Arvidsson keeps Nashville alive

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

~ (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Nashville’s Colin Wilson 33 celebrates after scoring on San Jose goalie Martin Jones in the third period of game six

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Viktor could not have chosen a better time to score his first career playoff goal, as he lifted his team from elimination to Game 7 Monday, in a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

The third period buzzer conjured up thoughts of another extended overtime, but Arvidsson capped the game 2:03 beyond regulation as he went top shelf. Goalie Pekka Rinne and Miikka Salomaki had the assists. Melker Karlsson could not handle the puck at the blue line and Marc-Edouard Vlasic could not get enough of the stick on the puck to create a stop.

With the series tied 3-3, the Predators are in a familiar place, having won Game 6 after being down in their last series. Meanwhile, the Sharks have already played a game more than their last series, and both teams a lot more so, considering the triple overtime game. With no more room for losing though, both teams will need to give it their all if they hope to advance to the third round of the playoffs.

San Jose had a 2-0 lead in the first, but the lead lasted less than half a period.

Nashville both outshot (32-18) and outhit (39-23) the Sharks by a margin of 16. They were outshot 14-4 in the second and 11-5 in the third.

The Sharks’ Chris Tierney scored two goals less than two minutes apart. It was the first time in his career with a two-goal game.

Goal one came at 9:55. Vlasic shot at net from the left point and Tierney deflected the puck, as he moved to the center of the left faceoff circle. The goal went under video review to see if it deflected under the crossbar, but the call on the ice stood. Tomas Hertl had an assist.

At 11:51, Burns shot from the right point and Matt Nieto tried to put the puck in off the deflection. Then Tierney raced in from the other side to put the rebound in behind Rinne, who was facing the opposite way.

Roman Josi cut the lead in half at 15:27. The Predators got the puck in neutral zone and Josi’s shot made it bounce funny as it went in above Jones’ head.

Vlasic and Craig Smith were called for roughing at 19:45, setting up a 4-on-4.

Ryan Johansen, who had two chances, capitalized to tie the game at 1:25 of the second, during the continuation of the 4-on-4. During his first chance, he lost the puck to Logan Couture. Second time around, after a pass from Ryan Ellis, Johansen faked a shot in front of Justin Braun and then went around him to shoot right before Couture caught up with him.

Couture put San Jose back up with the game’s only power play goal at 10:04 of the third. He was aided by Burns and Thornton.

Wilson re-tied the game though, less than three minutes later. He was helped by James Neal and Mike Ribeiro.

Game notes: If the home team winning trend continues, the Sharks are in luck. Both teams head back to SAP Center Thursday, time TBA, for a pivotal Game 7.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Sharks looking to end it in game six; Preds working out to save the series

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photo credit metropoli.com: Nashville Predators gaoltender Rinne Pekka spreads out to stop a  goal shot by the SJ Sharks

On the NHL Stanley Cup Podcast with Daniel the SJ Sharks have been key throughout the second round of the playoffs against the Nashville Predators. The Sharks finished with a four goal win after coming off a three over time one goal loss in game four. The Sharks and Preds play game six on Monday night in Nashville and the Preds after getting peppered with shots by the Sharks on Saturday will be preparing goaltender Rinne Pekka who will be in front of the net.

The Sharks got offensive help on Saturday from Joe Pavelski who scored twice, teammates Melker Karlsson, Logan Courture, Patrick Marleau scored a goal each. The Sharks and Preds head back to Nashville for game six the Preds needing a home ice win to force a game seven and the Sharks looking to end it in Nashville so they won’t have to come back to San Jose to play game seven.

Daniel gives analysis of the Stanley Cup Playoffs each week join podcast below right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Sharks Thump Preds 5-1

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

AP photo: San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski and teammates enjoy the jubilation after Pavelski’s goal against the Nashville Predators in game five at SAP Center Saturday night

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks roundly defeated the Nashville Predators by a score of 5-1 on Saturday. Most of the games in this series, including the triple overtime Game 4, have been much closer than that. On Saturday, it certainly seemed that the Sharks had no interest in any more overtime. They kept playing right up to the final horn.

Two goals came from Joe Pavelski, one from Melker Karlsson, one from Logan Couture and one from Patrick Marleau. Joonas Donskoi and Justin Braun each had two assists and Maetin Jones made 24 saves on 25 shots. The lone Nashville goal was scored by Mike Fisher, while Pekka Rinne made 23 saves on 27 shots.

Game 5 of the series is one the Sharks won and the Predators lost against their respective first round opponents. For them to repeat the pattern in the second round allows for tempting parallels. Nashville’s head coach Peter Laviolette was asked about how that first round experience can apply to this second round.

I think any time you’re in playoff hockey, experiences that you gain, good and bad, you learn from them. Just because we did something last round…. we gotta put the work in and make sure that we’re playing the game with the attitude that we need to be successful. So, yeah, we can take things from that but we’ve got to change our mindset here.

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer made a few changes to his lineup before the fifth game of their series against the Nashville Predators. He replaced forward Tommy Wingels with Dainius Zubrus, and recomposed the fourth line to include Zubrus, Melker Karlsson and Nick Spaling. Patrick Marleau moved to the second line with Logan Couture and Joonas Donskoi, and Joel Ward played with Chris Tierney and Matt Nieto.

Of the changes to the second line, DeBoer said after the game: “I thought it was Patty’s best game of the series and that line was excellent all night. Some changes work, and tonight that change worked.”

DeBoer also explained the other changes to his lines, which hinged somewhat on the performance of Chris Tierney:

I think there was a couple of things. I think the play of Tierney, I think he has been playing well. I felt he could jump into that third line role. Spaling’s naturally a center, that allowed him to get back into position. But we’re not comfortable making that move unless Tierney’s playing well and he has been playing well.

The end result of all this was a 5-1 win, giving the Sharks a 3-2 series lead over the Nashville Predators. The Predators were in this same spot against the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. They came back to win games six and seven. After Saturday’s game, Predators head coach Peter Laviolette talked about what a team can learn from that sort of comeback:

The first few minutes of the game looked like a Predators penalty kill, the Sharks spent that much time in the offensive zone. After six inutesm the shots were 7-1 Sharks. By the ten minute mark, the Predators had closed the gap to 8-3 Sharks. The Sharks were shooting a lot in the first period.

That new line scored the first goal. Donskoi got control of the puck in the left corner, and danced around with it a bit, finally heading behind the net. The Predators didn’t quite buy it but they bit enough and started to follow him. He made a quick backhand reverse pass in the direction of Logan Couture, who was below the faceoff circle. Patrick Marleau was also closing on that spot and as the puck came between two defenders, Marleau put it in the net. It was Marleau’s third goal of the post season, and Donskoi’s third assist.

The Predators tied it at 15:40 after Colin Wilson’s pass from behind the net found James Neal on the inside edge of the faceoff circle. Neal had to reach for the puck so his pass was not very hard, but it got to Mike Fisher by the blue paint. Fisher had an open net with Jones high in the crease.

The Sharks took the lead back at 17:21 with a goal from Joe Pavelski. The Sharks circled the net with passes, from Thornton to Burns, to a wide shot collected by Hertl to the left of the net and passed back around the boards to Thornton. They repeated the same cycle a couple of times, with any strays cleaned up by Marc-Edouard Vlasic at the other point. After this routine had time to hypnotize everyone, Thornton changed it up and sent the pass to Pavelski, who was hanging out in the slot. His one timer went home for his seventh goal of the post season, with assists to Thornton and Vlasic.

At the end of the first, the shots were 13-11 Sharks.

35 seconds into the second period, Logan Couture took advantage of a Predators turnover in the neutral zone, and skated in all alone. He made a few quick moves with the puck and, when Rinne came out to meet him a little bt, he went for a back hand that went through the five hole. It was Couture’s fifth goal of the playoffs, with assist to Donskoi and Justin Braun.

The Sharks took the first penalty of the game when Brenden Dillon was called for interference.

Jones stopped a shot from the blue line in the first few seconds. Spaling cleared 30 seconds in, and the Sharks changed penalty killers. Around 1 minute in, the Sharks cleared it again. A few seconds after the next faceoff, the Sharks cleared it again, and a few seconds later, again. Then they knocked it down into the Nashville zone while still in the neutral zone. Almost as soon as the penalty ended, the Sharks were back on the attack in Nashville territory.

The Sharks got their first power play of the game when Roman Josi went to the box for interference on Logan Couture. The penalty came with just 46 seconds left in the period. The Sharks did not need that much time. Joe Pavelski scored just nine seconds into the penalty, off a pass that came from Patrick Marleau behind the net. It was Pavelski’s second of the game.

Ryan Johansen did not like any of that so he tried to bait Paul Martin. Martin did not respond, and eventually Johansen’a antics got him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with just 12.5 seconds left in the period.

The Sharks did not start the third on a power play, because with 2.1 seconds left in the second, Joel Ward received a 4 minute minor for high sticking. So the Predators started most of two minutes with the man advantage almost two minutes into the third. The Sharks killed it off, but near the end of it Logan couture blocked a shot that seemed to sting.

He was back out for his next shift.

The Predators finally caught the Sharks on the shot clock with 5:41 left in the game, when the teams were tied at 23. The Sharks did not let up either, and continued to launch serious attacks on the Nashville net.

With 3:59 left in the game, the teams played four on four for just under a minute before the Sharks had a four on three power play.

Ryan Johansen went off for unsportsmanlike conduct, for two minutes and a ten minute misconduct. Also gone for ten minutes was Mike Ribeiro. Joe Thornton went to the box for two minutes for slashing. 57 seconds into the four on four, Nashville’s Anthony Bitetto went to the box for tripping.

That left just over one minute for the teams to play at even strength. The Sharks scored again with 49.7 seconds remaining in the game. Carter Hutton, now in goal for Nashville, was a little late getting back to his net after playing the puck behind the net. Melker Karlsson took a quick shot as he to the crease. Assists went to Chris Tierney and Justin Braun.

Final score: 5-1 Sharks. Game Six will be in Nashville on Monday at 6:00 PT.