Photo credit: (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP) (Associated Press)
By Pearl Allison Lo
The Edmonton Oilers almost had a hat trick with goals number 48 and 49, but the San Jose Sharks were able to hold Leon Draisaitl and his team at bay in the Rogers Place Thursday.
Draisaitl had early goals in the first two periods at 2:03 and 3:22, but Edmonton continued on a five-game losing streak. He and the Sharks’ Logan Couture were tied for a game-high seven shots on goal.
San Jose broke a three-game losing streak on the road in their regular season road finale. They are also now 31-0 when giving up two goals or fewer.
Brent Burns got to 80 points and had a goal and assist for San Jose as he gave his postgame interview without removing all the strings of long hair all over his face. Both of his points began with faceoff wins by Tomas Hertl.
Aaron Dell had his first win since four appearances ago as he made 26 saves on 28 shots. Dell had his best save percentage (.929) in a start since November 23.
San Jose coach Pete DeBoer said after the game, “I don’t know anything yet,” re an injury that occurred when Darnell Nurse accidentally fell on top of Timo Meier.
Draisaitl’s 48th goal came short-handed and was the second game in a row the Sharks gave up such a goal.
The Sharks’ Marcus Sorensen scored his first goal since March 12 at 8:52 of the first, when Joe Thornton made a sneaky and suave pass from behind the net. Jacob Middleton earned his first assist on the play.
Burns’ goal then came at 10:04 with a wrister under the crossbar from the middle of the left faceoff circle. It was not a sure thing at first, but the goal prevailed.
Joint roughing penalties were issued to Meier and Milan Lucic at 10:37 of the second, questionable on Meier’s end.
Gustav Nyquist ended up getting the game winner at 18:48. Nyquist got a piece of Burns’ hard shot from behind him. Nyquist had four shots on goal.
Both teams had a power play in the third and five (San Jose) and six (Oilers) shots apiece.
The Sharks’ Melker Karlsson returned from injury and played 12:05.
San Jose’s recent power play remained perfect in their last 13 tries. Still, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture saw room for overall improvement. Pavelski replied, “we gotta stay on the attack and stay aggressive…There’s always another level this team can get to.” He also noted, “we kind of beat ourselves at times, but guys were committed to getting back.”
Up Next: The Sharks play their regular season finale Saturday at home versus the Colorado Avalanche at 7:30 pm.
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