Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks
By Mary Walsh
SAN JOSE — The Sharks will advance to the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs after a 5-4 overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday. The win represents comebacks from being down 3-1 in the series and being down 3-0 in the third period of Game 7. Sharks goals came from Logan Couture (2), Tomas Hertl, Kevin Labanc and Barclay Goodrow. Golden Knights goals came from William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty, Cody Eakin and Jonathan Marchessault. Martin Jones made 34 saves in the win, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 43 saves in the loss.
Do it for Joe x2?
Much has been made of the Sharks’ desire to succeed for the sake of Joe Thornton, whose career is in its sunset years. Then, halfway through the third period, there was an injury to their captain Joe Pavelski.
Like blood in the water, Pavelski’s blood on the ice galvanized the Sharks into a scoring frenzy in the third period. They were down 3-0 when their captain was helped off of the ice. They scored twice in the first minute of that 5 minute major, then twice more before the penalty expired. It was the first lead change in a game in this series. Logan Couture scored the first and the third, Tomas Hertl scored the second and Kevin Labanc scored the fourth. All of those goals in 4:01 of playing time.
That was all very surprising, bombarding the audience with stunning mix of emotions.
The Golden Knights scored first Tuesday, at 10:10. After an offensive zone face-off, Reilly Smith took a shot from the wall. The puck went off of Jonathan Marchessault, who was in front of Brenden Dillon, who was in front of Martin Jones. The puck veered to the right, where William Karlsson reached around to put the puck past all of the bodies and into the net. Assists went to Marchessault and Smith.
The Sharks had two scoreless power plays early in the first, one at 1:56 when Colin Miller went for hooking Kevin Labanc, and one at 4:15 when Brayden McNabb went for cross-checking Tomas Hertl. Tnd the Golden Knights had one at 12:36 when Erik Karlsson went for tripping Brandon Pirri. The Golden Knights had theirs cut short when Alex Tuch was called for interference on Justin Braun. That left the Sharks with some power play time after all that, but they couldn’t make much of it and spent too much time trying to get throught thethe neutral zone. In all, the Sharks power play generated six of their eleven first period shots. The Golden Knights got no shots on their partial power play but had four in the period.
The Sharks had good chances in the first minutes of the second, but hit the post at least twice. They earned a power play at 6:22, when Ryan Reaves tripped Martin Jones, who was outside of the net trying to retrieve the puck. San Jose had a few moments of good puck movement, but just one shot on goal.
Near the midpoint of the second, the Golden Knights outshot the Sharks 5-2. At the exact midpoint, Cody Eakin put the puck in the net for Las Vegas. The goal was reviewed for a high stick, and was upheld by the NHL. Assists went to Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore.
The Sharks almost evened the shot count by the end of the second, but still had not scored. Their face-off percentage, which had been near 50% through the first, dropped to 40% in the second. Las Vegas definitely had the upper hand in the middle frame.
Max Pacioretty scored a third for Las Vegas at 3:36 of the third. After some good zone time for San Jose, and another post, Vegas pushed back and the Sharks were trying to clear the puck out. Mark Stone took the puck away from them and passed it across the slot to Pacioretty. Pacioretty was able to hold it for a beat and when he took the shot, there was no one between him and Jones. The puck went by Jones on the blocker side. An assist went to Stone.
At 9:13, Cody Eakin cross-checked Joe Pavelski right off of a face-off. As Pavelski stumbled backward, Paul Stasny skated into him from the side. Pavelski went backward over Stasny’s knee, and could not get his hands up to protect himself in time. He landed on the side of his head and bled onto the ice. After Pavelski was helped off the ice, Eakin was given a five-minute major. Then the Sharks started scoring. Their goals came from everywhere: both faceoff circles, a deflection in the slot, a shot from the slot.
The Golden Knights pulled their goaltender and at 19:13 they tied the game. Mark Stone moved the puck behind the net to Reilly Smith. Smith moved it quickly back above the blue paint, where Marchessault knocked it past Jones. Assists went to Smith and Stone.
The Sharks won 62% of the face-offs in the third period.
Both teams struggled with fatigue and what appeared to be bad ice in overtime. Passes missed the mark, any long-distance puck movement seemed to wobble. Both goaltenders were still alert and the period crept closer and closer to a fifth period.
Barclay Goodrow only had two shifts in the fourth period, but on his second, he ended the game. Erik Karlsson carried the puck over the blue line and Goodrow came across right behind him. Goodrow took the wide track close to the boards and Karlsson passed the puck ahead to him. Goodrow veered away from the boards and cut across in front the goal. Fleury could not stay in front of him and Goodrow slid the puck around the goaltender and into the net at 18:19.
The only roster change before Tuesday’s game was the replacement of Joonas Donskoi by Lucas Radil. Though Donskoi finished the game Sunday, he did take a big hit in overtime. He did not skate in the morning practice Tuesday, but there was no specific mention of injury. Joakim Ryan, who did not skate after the second period on Sunday, skated four shifts in the first and four shifts in the third, and then skated in overtime Tuesday.
After the game, there were no updates about Pavelski’s condition.
The second round against Colorado will start Friday in San Jose.
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