Photo credit: San Jose Sharks
By Matthew Harrington
SAN JOSE–Things could have gone worse for the San Jose Sharks during Tuesday night’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets at SAP Center, but then again, things could have gone a lot better. The Sharks managed to erase 3-0 and 4-3 deficits, but fell in overtime 5-4.
Joe Thornton was injured in the final moments of the contest and his status is currently unknown.
Winnipeg’s Bryan Little scored easily 18 seconds (remember that amount of time for later) into overtime, his second goal of the game, to hand Sharks goalie Aaron Dell his first loss in five games. Dustin Byfuglien circled the Sharks net, then passed from the goal line cross-crease to Little on the backdoor for his 10th goal of the year.
It almost looked like the Sharks wouldn’t need overtime to pick up a point (possibly two) in this game after a huge momentum swing in the final five minutes of the game. Timo Meier did an excellent job staying strong on his stick in the slot to find a rebound of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot to score with 4:20 left in regulation and tie the game at 4-4.
Byfuglien, known for his antics after the whistle, clipped Meier with his stick in the celebration and was sent off for a penalty. The Sharks would get caught with too many men on the ice 1:07 into the man-advantage though, and then had to kill off a Jets power play to hold on for overtime.
If the first few moments of the game were any indication, the Sharks should be satisfied with just the loser point. The Jets sucked any energy out of the SAP Center crowd after Mathieu Perreault scored just 18 seconds into play, then just over four minutes later Joel Armia really silenced the hometown fans after his backhand toss ricocheted past Aaron Dell for a 2-0 Winnipeg lead.
The situation went from bad to worse for the Sharks after Tomas Hertl found himself making his way to the showers after being handed a game misconduct for his hit on Dmitry Kulikov 8:13 into the period. The Czech forward was also assessed a five-minute major, putting his team on the shorthand for five minutes.
The Sharks were “fortunate” to survive the penalty kill only yielding one goal to the second best power play in the NHL. Bryan Little beat Dell for a 3-0 lead just 11:56 into play.
Leaders step up when times get toughest, so it was Sharks captain Joe Pavelski who changed the morale of team teal in the waning seconds of the first. After a flurry of shots on Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck couldn’t find the back of the net, Pavelski crossed the blue line into the slot to pick up a turnover and rifle the puck into the net.
With believability back in the Sharks locker room trailing 3-1 heading into the first intermission, San Jose still had its work cut out for them. Perhaps inspired by Kristi Yamaguchi’s presence at the Shark Tank, Logan Couture followed up a perfect pirouette with a shot to Hellebuyck’s right for his 18th goal of the season with half the game in the books. Joel Ward and Brendan Dillon assisted on the goal to bring San Jose within one at 3-2.
Chris Tierney, pressed into power play placement following Hertl’s ejection, ran with his opportunity. Tierney slipped into the slot in perfect one-timer position with the perfect one-time assister Joe Thornton holding onto the puck on the other side of the ice. Thornton threaded the puck through the Jets penalty killing box, Tierney dug in for a full-power one-timer and with 6:35 left in the second period, suddenly San Jose was tied 3-3.
Joel Armia would pot his second goal of the game 11:38 into the third to give Winnipeg their 4-3 lead, which set up Meier’s game-tying strike and the overtime period. A collision in front of the Sharks bench in the final seconds cost the Sharks their top center in the three-on-three skate.
Up Next: San Jose continues its home stand, welcoming the New York Rangers to the SAP Center Thursday night.
The Sharks topped the Rangers 4-1 October 23rd at Madison Square Garden behind stellar play of Martin Jones, who’s currently out with a lower body injury.
