Hockey is a strange game. Eliminated from the
playoffs two weeks ago and a sure thing to land a lottery pick in the NHL
Draft, the Sharks played one of their better games of the season on Thursday
night. Holding a 5-3 lead with a minute to play, San Jose got a glimpse of what
young superstars can evolve to, as the Toronto Maple Leafs scored a pair of
goals in the final minute of regulation to get the game to overtime. San Jose
prevailed in the shootout when their own youngsters bagged a pair of goals to
take a 6-5 win.
Wild was the best way to describe this one. The win
was the second time they defeated Toronto in the shootout this season, also
winning 3-2 in Toronto on March 3rd. How it got to the shootout was the crazy
part.
John Tavares scored with 58 seconds left in regulation after
Toronto pulled goaltedner Joesph Woll. William Nylander scored his 2nd goal of
the game and 42nd of the season with 13.2 seconds remaining as San Jose was on
the verge of taking the game in regulation.
Sharks up and comers Will
Smith and Macklin Celebrini both beat Stoll in the shootout to give San Jose
the 1 points.
The Sharks maintained most of the momentum for the first
59 minutes of the game. Tyler Toffoli scored the first of his 2 goals 7:50 into
the game to stake the Sharks to a lead they would hold until Nylander's
dramatic last second goal. The veteran forward punched home a rebound off a
Lucas Carlsson shot as he sat perchaed at the top of the crease.
Nylander scored his 1st of the game at 14:40 of the opening period aftetr
Mathew Knies snapped a pass through the crease from left to right. Nylander had
Alexandar Georgiev dead to rights after the Sharks goaltender was trying to
seal off Knies on the left side.
With Carlsson in the box for an
interference infraction, the Sharks intercepted a puck in the Leafs zone before
Collin Graf raced up ice with the puck. With Barclay Goodrow skating on his
right flank, Graf cut to hit right behind Goodrow and using him and two Toronto
defenders as a screen before lifting a shot past Woll for the 2-1 lead.
Alexander Wennberg made it a 2-goal lead 1:39 into the 2nd period off
a 2-on-1 rush. The Sharks centerman raced up the right side then elected to
whip a shot from the right circle, clipping Woll. The puck carried past the
Maple Leafs goaltender and fluttered across the goal line.
Auston
Matthews added a power play goal at 4:46 to make it a 1-goal Sharks
lead.
William Eklund was credited with a fluke goal at
13:18 as he pressed toward the Toronto net on the forecheck. Woll hesitated to
move the puck as he stood in his crease, but when he did it was too late. The
puck hit Eklund in the skate and kicked back to the goaltender, splitting
Woll's pads for his career high 17th goal of the season.
Scott
Laughton cut into the Sharks lead with a goal 2 minutes later to cap the
period's scoring.
Toffoli opened the 3rd period with his 27th goal of
the year 3:02 in on a power play chance. Eklund carried the puck off the end
boards on the right side then snapped a pass through the crease to the bottom
of the left circle where Toffoli gathered it and snapped it home.
San
Jose looked content to kill the remaining time on the clock, but Toronto pulled
Woll with 2 minutes and change left in regulation and his teammates went to
work. Taverez tipped home a Mitch Marner shot from the right side.
Then Nylander raised the blood pressures of the 15,514 paid when he potted his
last second would be heart breaker.
Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky
flipped things up by electing to shoot second in the shootout. The move paid
off. Nylander converted in the opening salvo, but Smith and Celebrini both
converted for San Jose, while Mathews and Marner both missed their chances.
Game Notes: * Alex Wennberg scored his 100th career
goal in the game.
* Cam Lund made his NHL debut for San Jose, skating
16 shifts and logging 11:06 of ice time. The recent signee recorded 1 shot on
goal in his first professional game.
* The win marked the 5th time
they have swept the Maple Leafs in the season series.
* Macklin
Celebrini became the first 18-year-old to score a shootout winner for San Jose.
* The Maple Leafs continue on to Southern California where they will
take on Anaheim and Los Angeles to wrap up their California swing.
