Tag: San Jose Sharks

Sharks’ Evander Kane to step into superstar role with long-term deal

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Sharks are closing in on a seven-year contract with star forward Evander Kane that will keep the high-scoring forward off the free-agent market and for all intents and purposes make Kane a Shark for life, according to multiple reports.

Kane, who turns 27 in August, was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline. Under the terms of that trade, the Sabres will now get a first-round pick in 2019 instead of a second-rounder because Kane signed with San Jose. The selection is lottery-protected, so it could be moved to 2020.

Kane’s status was one of the biggest questions heading into this offseason for the Sharks, who were knocked out of the playoffs in six games in the second round by eventual Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights.

What this means for longtime center Joe Thornton, the other prominent potential free agent on the team, is not clear but he has gone on record saying he’s willing to come back on a reduced one-year deal.

Kane had issues off the ice and with teammates at times during his stints with the Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo, but blended in well with a veteran Sharks team and got the opportunity to go to the postseason for the first time in his career.

Kane made an immediate impact in San Jose, stepping right onto the top line with captain Joe Pavelski and helping ease the loss of Thornton, who went down with a season-ending knee injury in January. Kane used his speed and physical play to deliver nine goals and five assists in 17 games and spark an eight-game winning streak that sent San Jose to the playoffs.

Kane shined in the first round with three goals and an assist during a sweep against Anaheim. But he struggled a bit against the Golden Knights, slowed by injuries to his knee and shoulder that lingered from the end of the regular season.

Even if the Sharks were to sign Thornton (imagine Kane on the number one line with Pavelski and Thornton), Kane will now be the face of the Sharks. With his speed, tenacity and scoring touch, Kane will be the star player for the Sharks for the next seven years as he is entering the prime of his career. The torch will be passed on to Kane once Thornton is gone.

It will be a role Kane will relish in as he likes the winning environment that the Sharks present with veterans Pavelski, Logan Couture and up and coming young players such as Tomas Hertl, Joonas Donskoi and Timo Meier as the core nucleus of the team.

Kane finished last season with 29 goals and 25 assists, his second-most productive season to his 30-goal, 27-assist campaign for the Jets in 2011-12. Kane has 186 goals and 168 assists in 574 career games since entering the NHL as the fourth overall pick by Atlanta in 2009.

NHL Stanley Cup Conference Finals podcast Len Shapiro: Expansion Knights keep setting new levels with each playoff advancement; Tampa Bay headed for Eastern Conference Finals

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photo  from denverpost.com: James Neal (18) of the Vegas Golden Knights tries to skate around Brenden Dillon (4) of the San Jose Sharks during Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 6, 2018 in San Jose, Calif.

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 It was a battle for the ages. It took six games and lots of anxious moments in a series which at one point up to Game 4 that was hard to predict an outcome. The Vegas Golden Knights, however, took Game 5 in Las Vegas past the San Jose Sharks and came back to San Jose with a 3-2 lead and clinched to advance to the Western Conference Finals on Sunday night with a convincing 3-0 shutout at SAP Center in Game 6.

#2 The Winnipeg Jets take a 3-2 series lead as they defeated the Nashville Predators 6-2 Saturday. This is a series where its been a win every other game for each team and don’t be surprised if this one goes seven.

#3 The Washington Capitals took a 3-2 series lead past the Nashville Predators with a three-goal 6-3 win and know after not being allowed to take a shot all game long for both the Pens’ Sid Crosby and the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin as both players were going all out in game five.

#4 The Tampa Bay Lightning clinched to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a win over the Boston Bruins to take a 4-1 series victory.

Len Shapiro does the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sharks’ Season Ends With 3-0 Loss to Golden Knights

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Photo credit: @TheVegasRealm

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks’ season ended with a 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at the SAP Center Sunday. The Game 6 win makes the Golden Knights the third NHL team to win two rounds in the playoffs in their inaugural season. Goals came from Jonathan Marchessault, Nate Schmidt and Cody Eakin. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for Vegas’ shutout win. Martin Jones made 30 saves in a losing effort for San Jose.

After the game, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said: “We just didn’t find a way to put any pucks in the net. You know we had some opportunities early, a couple of power plays and some really good looks. And whether a puck spun off or got a skate on it or whatever kind of happened, it was. I think our opportunities early were there to take that lead.”

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer gave his assessment of the series after the game:

We knew their game was for real and I thought there was some swing moments in the series when you win and when you lose. But the bottom line for me is we were just chasing the game. Every game in the series other than the 4-0 win here at home. I thought we had some good starts, had some quality chances early in a lot of those games, and Fleury I thought was great early in a lot of those games, allowed them to get their feet under them and then we’re chasing five of the six games.

Asked about what he thought of the Pavelski, Kane, Donskoi line, DeBoer said:

I’m not dissecting it. I can tell you this, you got a guy who’s playing center that hasn’t played center in years that steps up and plays as the number one center. So you know if you’re going to negatively dissect their play, you’re talking to the wrong guy. You can do that. These guys…. Our number one center went down, these guys jumped in, filled roles didn’t complain, battled their ass off right to the buzzer in every single game even when we were down.

The Sharks were on the power play in the first minute of the game, thanks to a tripping call drawn by Tomas Hertl. The Sharks got two shots during the power play, but the Golden Knights got one on a breakaway for Willam Karlsson.

Just 5:39 into the period, a flurry of activity in front of the Sharks net ended with Martin Jones being pushed into the net as the whistle blew. Evidently the puck crossed the line with the goalie, but an NHL initiated review determined that the whistle had been blown before the puck went in.

Near the nine-minute mark, Tomas Hertl had a breakaway, but hit the crossbar. He retrieved the puck and got it to Logan Couture for a good chance, but that shot did not go in either. A scramble in front of Fleury followed, but the puck still stayed out.

After the next faceoff in the Vegas zone, Brayden McNabb sent the puck over the glass. After an extensive review to see if it touched a Sharks stick, the penalty was called. The Sharks took a couple of good shots before Vegas cleared the puck. Seconds after that penalty expired, Evander Kane was called for tripping Reilly Smith. The Sharks killed that off without letting the power play spend a lot of time in the zone.

At even strength after the power play, it was a different story. The Golden Knights spent a lot of time in the Sharks zone. Their fourth line in particular was very effective.

Despite not spending much time on offense, the Sharks had another good chance off a blue line shot from Joakim Ryan in the last three minutes. Timo Meier reached to push it in, but did not get there. That sequence seemed to energize the Sharks and they held the zone for quite a spell. Brent Burns had a shot deflected by Evander Kane, but it went off the crossbar. It fell at Joonas Donskoi’s feet by the post, but he couldn’t get it over the line either.

The teams finished the period almost even in shots, 12-11 Vegas.

The teams started the second period a little bit slowly, with more than four minutes of play going by before the first shot was counted. It went to Vegas, and another minute of play went by before the Sharks got a shot on goal.

It was the third shot of the period that went in, at 6:33, a goal from the Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault. A failed clear by Marc-Edouard Vlasic ended up on Reilly Smith’s stick. He found Marchessault with an open net. Assists went to Smith and William Karlsson.

The Golden Knights almost scored again at 8:31 left in the first, when Martin Jones came out to stop a shot from Brayden McNabb and was completely out of the net when Smith got a chance at the rebound. Chris Tierney was in the paint and blocked the shot. The Sharks followed it up with good zone time, but all of their shots seemed to hit bodies and skates.

The second Vegas goal came with as little fanfare as a goal can have: most seemed to miss it and play continued. A horn went a few moments later, alerting all that something was wrong. On review, Nate Schmidt scored with a shot from the blue line that hit the post and went off the goal net camera. David Perron won an offensive zone faceoff against Chris Tierney and slid the puck to Eric Haula on the wall. Haula got the puck to Schmidt. The time of the goal was 15:38.

By the halfway mark of the third period, the shot count was 11-3 in favor of Vegas. The Golden Knights did not let up. DeBoer pulled Martin Jones with 2:15 left in the period. The Sharks got a couple of shots in the 15 seconds before Ryan Carpenter and Cody Eakin broke away to score on the empty net. It was Eakin’s third goal of the playoffs and Carpenter’s third assist. An additional assist went to Nate Schmidt.

That was it, except for the handshake.

The schedule for the Western and Eastern conference final rounds are yet to be determined, as the two series (Jets-Predators, Capitals-Penguins) are still ongoing.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins, watch your tongue, Lightning just one win away; Sharks come back, but lose to Knights 5-3; plus more

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NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt:

#1 After the Boston Bruins Brad Marchand licked the face of the Tampa Bay Lighting’s winger Ryan Callahan, that was enough to light the fuse and the Lightning. Marchand said that Callahan punched him in the face four times and kept getting close and said it was not a big deal. The Bolts get the 4-3 win in overtime in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead.

#2 The Vegas Golden Knights got a 5-3 win in regulation to take a 3-2 series lead. The Knights well ahead of San Jose scoring a goal in the first period and two in the second, but the sleeping Shark woke up answering back with three goals to tie it 3-3 in the third period but the Knights would have none of it and roared back with two goals to win it 5-3.

#3 In Washington tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who tied up the series 2-2 with the Caps on Thursday with a 3-1 win do battle again tonight for Game 5. In Game 4, the defense put the pressure on both of the Caps and Pens key players Alexander Ovechkin for the Caps and Sid Crosby for the Pens neither scored a goal, but what’s worse was neither even got a shot on goal in Game 4.

#4 The Nashville Predators pulled off a tough win in Winnipeg on Thursday night in Game 4 to tie up the series 2-2. It’s been a back and forth series as the Jets won Game 3 at home convincingly 7-4 for their short series lead.

Matt Harrington does the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall 5-3 to Golden Knights, Trail in Series 3-2

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell behind in their second round playoff series with a 5-3 loss in Las Vegas Friday. Vegas took a 4-0 lead with goals from James Neal, Eric Haula and two from Alex Tuch. Jonathan Marchessault scored an empty-netter in the final seconds to seal the win. The Sharks’ three third period goals came from Kevin Labanc, Tomas Hertl and Mikkel Boedker. Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the win. In the Sharks’ net, Martin Jones made 27 saves before being pulled in the third period, and Aaron Dell finished the game with seven saves.

After the game, Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski described the team’s sense of the game:

It felt like the game was there at all times. When that score was within two or three, you feel in it. And we knew we had to get in there and create a little bit more. But, game went to four, Deller went in, all of a sudden we bang in one or two and you know it’s still there. So I don’t know, did we fell in it? We thought we had a chance for sure. Were we playing good enough? Not at some moments for sure, but the game got better at the end. So that needs to continue now, it doesn’t matter what we felt.

“We have to play harder for a longer stretch than we did tonight. We didn’t play hard enough for long enough and that’s why we lost,” said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer. Each team killed three of four penalties. Vegas outshot the Sharks 39-30, with the biggest difference in the first period. Vegas also edged the Sharks in faceoffs, winning 51% of them. The hit count favored the Golden Knights by a big margin at 53-35.

The Golden Knights outshot the Sharks 15-7 in the first period, but Sharks goaltender Martin Jones held them off the board until the final minute. James Neal scored with just three seconds left off a rebound created by Shea Theodore’s shot from the blue line. Theodore and David Perron got the assists.

The Sharks started the second period with an early power play but could not score. They had only two shots on goal and Vegas came back with a power play of their own just 12 seconds after the Sharks power play expired.

The Vegas power play did not last long, as Alex Tuch scored at 4:52, again off a rebound. This one was created by a close in shot from Reilly Smith. It was not much of a rebound but Tuch was right on the doorstep to knock it in. Assists went to Reilly and Jonathan Marchessault.

The third Vegas goal came from Erik Haula at 8:59. Haula caught a pass from David Perron almost at the goal line. His bad angle shot squeezed under Jones’ pad on the short side. Assists went to Perron and Ryan Carpenter.

Just shy of the half way mark, Marc-Andre Fleury thwarted an excellent chance for San Jose. Marcus Sorensen skated in fast and followed his shot up by crashing the net. He knocked Fleury across the goal mouth and off his skates. The puck was cleared away to the boards, where Brent Burns was on top of it. Fleury got back in position in time to stop the blast from Burns as well.

Vegas had a second power play at 11:02 after Justin Braun was called for tripping. The Sharks started the penaly kill with a good short-handed chance from Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, but they did not beat Fleury. They had a couple more short-handed excursions into the Vegas zone and killed off the rest of the penalty.

The Sharks’ fourth line had an excellent shift in the final three minutes of the period but that was followed by another Vegas power play. After a line change, Joe Pavelski was called for roughing after a tussle in front of the Vegas net. The Sharks spent most of the rest of the period killing that off.

The Sharks’ second power play came early in the third period after Shea Theodore was called for cross-checking Tomas Hertl. Vegas killed that off, but Theodore was back in the box at 4:11, this time for slashing Hertl. The Sharks were unable to take advantage of either penalty.

Alex Tuch scored his second of the game at 8:36 of the third. The Sharks had just finished an excellent shift in the o-zone, ever frustrated by Fleury. After the offensive zone draw, the Sharks lost the puck to Oscar Lindberg, who got it out of the zone. Alex Tuch carried it across the line and passed it to Cody Eakin. Eakin sent it right back for Tuch to shoot.

Pete DeBoer pulled Martin Jones after that goal and put Aaron Dell in.

The team responded with a a quick power play goal from Kevin Labanc. James Neal was called for slashing at 9:06. 29 seconds into the power play, Logan Couture found Labanc in the slot for a clean shot over Fleury’s left pad. Assists went to Couture and Hertl.

Just over two minutes later, Tomas Hertl scored to cut the Vegas lead in half. Mikkel Boedker made a fast move behind the net and just as he had the puck coming around the post, Hertl was there to knock it in. Assists went to Boedker and Couture.

Boedker added to the Sharks’ tally with a quick shot close in after the puck popped out of a scramble in front of the Vegas net. The time of the goal was 15:44, with an assist to Logan Couture.

With 2:21 and an offensive zone draw for the Sharks, DeBoer pulled Dell for the extra skater. The Sharks spent some precious time defending that empty net before getting the puck back into the Vegas zone for a moment. But with 1:21 left, Jonathan Marchessault got control of the puck and took a shot all the way down the ice for the empty-net goal.

Game 6 will be in San Jose on Sunday at 4:30 pm PT.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe Lami: Pens tie up series with Caps at 2-2 to silence Ovechkin; Preds play for their lives, series with Jets now tied

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photo from nhl.com: The Nashville Predators PK Subban celebrates scoring the game winner past the Winnipeg Jets to tie up the series up at two games apiece in Winnipeg on Thursday night

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Joe:

#1 The Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne stood on his head and stop 32 shots in a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets who just trounced the Preds on Tuesday night in game three 7-4 flipped the script with a series tying game loss to Nashville. Game 5 will be this Saturday night in Winnipeg. The Predators’ PK Subban scored a power-play goal for the gamer.

#2 The Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night got a series-tying win past the Washington Capitals in a Game 4 win 3-1. The Penguins also were able to shut down Alex Ovechkin likewise the Penguins Sid Crosby who didn’t score a goal or get a shot and both were well-defended in Thursday’s contest.

#3 The San Jose Sharks tied their series 2-2 with the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-0 shutout in Game 4 at SAP Center on Wednesday night. The Sharks dominated this game from start to finish and avoided going back to Vegas down 3-1. The Golden Knights will host the Sharks on Friday night for Game 5.

#4 The Tampa Bay Lighting are up two games to one over the Boston Bruins. The Bolts have been living on the forecheck that has helped shake the puck loose a few times and the Ligthing were able to gets wins by two goals and three goals in Games 2 and 3.

Joe Lami does the NHL Stanley Cup podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Jones Shuts Out Golden Knights 4-0; Sharks Even Series 2-2

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Photo credit: @PR_NHL

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks turned their best-of-seven series against the Vegas Golden Knights into a best-of-three, beating the visitors 4-0 Wednesday night at the SAP Center to even the series 2-2. Martin Jones authored a 34-save shutout, his second of the playoffs, while helping San Jose’s penalty kill go 5-for-5.

Tomas Hertl scored his team-best fifth goal of the playoffs, Joonas Donskoi lit the lamp in his return to the lineup after a one-game layoff and Marcus Sorensen scored the game-winner. Joe Pavelski broke out of his mini-slump with his first goal since Game 3 of the Anaheim Ducks series and Logan Couture dished a pair of assists.

The spring of Sorensen continued, with the Swede forward scoring his fourth goal of the playoffs 15:37 into the first period in a superhuman effort. Sorensen circled the Vegas net, working his way back into the slot before losing his balance on a Colin Miller trip to Fleury’s right. He still managed to fire the puck mid-fall à la Bobby Orr top-shelf before the Golden Knights’ keeper could ever make his push across the net for a 1-0 San Jose lead.

“It was huge,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on the game-opening strike. “We’ve been chasing the lead the whole series. We talked about it, but it’s easier said than done. We’ve had chances in the last two games to get out front but [Marc-Andre] Fleury’s been exceptional early in games in order to keep us off the board. It’s nice that we stuck with it. Hopefully, we see some cracks.”

The Sharks looked like they were going to head to the locker room with a one-goal lead, but another fantastic individual effort from a San Jose forward led to a 2-0 cushion with just six seconds left in the first. Joonas Donskoi, absent from the lineup in Game 3, went coast-to-coast before beating Fleury over his glove with Vegas’ Brayden McNabb and Nate Schmidt trying to close in on him in the slot. Brenden Dillon picked up his second assist of the game after serving up a helper on Sorensen’s strike as well.

Tomas Hertl had arguably his best game of the series, firing three shots on net over 18:58 minutes while being a force around and behind the Vegas net. The Sharks forward scored his team-leading fifth goal of the postseason after parking himself in front of Fleury and shoveling a loose puck past through the scrambling netminder 5:35 into the second. Mikkel Boedker picked up an assist after firing the initial shot and Logan Couture had a secondary assist with the Sharks leading 3-0.

Joe Pavelski scored his first goal of the series, just his second of the playoffs, on the powerplay late in the third period after Fleury challenged Pavelski on the edge of the crease. Pavelski jammed at the puck till it flipped around Fleury’s left pad for a 4-0 lead with 8:17 in regulation. Couture drew his second assist on the goal while Brent Burns picked up a helper as well.

“They won the netfront battle at both ends,” said Vegas coach Gerard Gallant. “When you do that you win the game.”

Vegas vented its frustration in the final minutes, collecting a pair of penalties to put the Sharks on a 5-on-3 man advantage as time expired, but Team Teal couldn’t convert. In total, Vegas committed 22 minutes worth of penalties, with post-season hits leader William Carrier drawing a 10-minute misconduct to go with a roughing double-minor with 1:52 left in regulation.

The Sharks lineup remained a mystery up till puck drop, with Evander Kane missing the morning skate and Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow flanking Joe Pavelski on the top line at the morning practice. Ultimately, the only lineup change besides the return of Donskoi was the insertion of Joakim Ryan in Paul Martin’s place at defense. Martin was victimized most notably on William Karlsson’s overtime winner in Game 3 while Ryan showed promise in Game 4, including covering for Brent Burns to breakup a breakaway in the first period. Ryan finished the night with one blocked shot over 11:55 of ice time in his first career postseason contest.

“He did a good job,” said DeBoer of Ryan. “We didn’t win tonight because of Ryan, we didn’t lose last time because of Paul Martin. Our team game the last three games has been really good. The difference tonight was they were 0-5 on the power play and we snuck some goals in.”

The series shifts to Vegas Friday night, but the Sharks victory assures at least one more home game. If the Sharks were to win Game 5 in Vegas, they’d have a chance to finish out the series on home ice Sunday. The best guess will be that DeBoer rides the same 18 skaters for Friday’s tilt.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Can Sharks even it up tonight?; Jets lead Preds 2-1; Caps grab game 3 win lead Pens 2-1; No giving up on Bruins or Bolts series is tied 1-1

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Photo credit: @Capitals

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast, Marko takes a look at each NHL Playoff series:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights lead the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in their best of seven series with Game 4 slated for tonight in San Jose.

#2 Nashville and Winnipeg go at it again with Game 4 Thursday night. The Predators and Jets played game 3 on Tuesday night with Winnipeg getting the win 7-4 to take the lead in the series 2-1

#3 The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins play Game 4 Thursday night at the Igloo in Pittsburgh. The Caps came away with the win in game 3 with a one goal win 4-3 to take a series 2-1 lead.

#4 The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lighting are even at one apiece and face off tonight at TD Garden for Game 3.

Marko Ukalovic covers the NHL for Sportstalk radio at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: DeBoer preparing club for their biggest game of the season so far tonight

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Photo credit: @AVNNewsFeed

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 After dropping Game 3 in San Jose on Monday night, what team do you expect to come out tonight? The fiery team that won in double overtime on Saturday in Vegas or the team that battles in overtime, but somehow the Knights find the back end of the net to win it?

#2 Talk about some of the powerhouses on the Knights: William Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fluery, Tomas Tatar, Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin, and David Perron. It’s like you can choose any player from any line and the Knights have a flawless team.

#3 How much has injuries played a role in the playoffs for the Sharks with Joe Thornton and Brent Burns has shined, but has also been playing hurt at times; Evander Kane with the suspension, and Joonas Donskoi listed as injured.

#4 Has this series boiled down to who is the fastest team and how has speed played a role in beating the Sharks in two of the last three games?

#5 Peter DeBoer has had the skaters do some intense speed skating in the morning skate the option to keep up with the Knights. It will be intense if the Sharks aim to tie the series up tonight.

Mary Lisa Walsh does the SJ Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

SJ Sharks Rally, But Knights Karlsson Scores in OT to Give Vegas 2-1 Series Lead

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@GoldenKnights photo: Vegas Golden Knights celebrate the game winning goal by the Knights William Karlsson in the overtime stanza to beat the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center Monday night in game 3

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit, but the Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead after winning Game 3 in overtime 4-3. William Karlsson scored the game-winner Monday night 8:17 into the extra session for his fourth goal of the posteason. San Jose fired 42 shots on netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, but the Knights netminder turned aside all but three.

Evander Kane scored in his return to the lineup after serving a suspension for a cross-check to the head of a Golden Knights player in Game 1. Tomas Hertl scored the tying goal with just 1:57 left in regulation, but his efforts would ultimately be for naught. Karlsson turned the defensive pair of Paul Martin and Brent Burns into a pair of traffic cones on the winning shift, skating by them with ease before beating Sharks goalie Martin Jones over his right shoulder for the win.

The Sharks were surging to that point in overtime, having killed off two self-inflicted penalties in a too many men on the ice infraction and a delay of game minor. Fleury also made a brilliant point-blank save from a centering pass from behind the net just a few seconds of game play before Karlsson’s strike.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead after Timo Meier solved Fleury 6:59 into the second period with the Sharks on the power play, taking a pass from Chris Tierney after Tierney caught a rebound of defenseman Colin Miller’s shin pad. Despite being outshot nearly 2 to 1 (32-18) after two periods, Vegas found themselves up 3-1 after Miller atoned for his role in the Sharks goal, notching a power play goal on a cross-crease pass 9:40 into the second.

Jonathan Marchessault would score on a near-identical play on the man advantange with 6:51 left in the frame after he received Alex Tuch’s perfect one-timer feed. Reilly Smith added an even strength goal after Karlsson tipped a puck to him for the easy score with 5:34 left in the second. Evander Kane scored his fourth career goal in his sixth career playoff contest to pull San Jose within one 7:49 into the period on the power play after Brent Burns managed to keep a clearing attempt on the blue line and in to keep the play alive.

Burns then fed Kane on the backhand just outside the faceoff dot to Fleury’s left for a perfect one-timer. Hertl’s goal came after the forward jammed his way to the netfront from behind the goal. The puck bounced loose, but Hertl stayed determined, shoveling the loose puck home to force overtime with 1:57 left in regulation. San Jose outhit Vegas 44-35, but put Vegas on the power play six times, including twice for puck over the glass and once for a too many men penalty.

The Golden Knights converted on two of those chances, something San Jose will look to improve upon in Game 4 Wednesday in San Jose. The Sharks hope to be with Joonas Donskoi in the lineup after the first-line forward sat out Monday’s contest. Joe Thornton continued to skate with the team at morning skate, but there is no word yet on if he’ll return to the lineup at any point against Vegas.