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Triple overtime proves too much
for SJ
Nashville evens series at 2-2 with comeback
win
So much for that 2-0 lead. The Sharks limp home
from Nashville after dropping Game 4 on a Mike Fisher goal scored in triple
overtime. San Jose blew a 3rd period lead, then misfired on a boatload of
chances in the three extra periods, but they simply found a way to lose. San
Jose actually put what should have been the game winning goal into the
Predators net, but a controversial call waved off what would have been the goal
to put the Sharks up 3-1 in the series.
Fisher scored 11:12 into the
6th period after Mattias Ekholm sent a shot that Sharks goaltender Martin Jones
mishandled. Fisher cut across the slot and jammed home a shot that ended a
marathon contest that San Jose just flat out mishandled.
The chances
were plentiful. San Jose didn't deliver.
Where have we heard that
before?
Nashville didn't waste any time, slipping a puck past Jones
just 41 seconds into the contest. Mattias Ekholm fired a shot from the left
point, hitting a defender in front of the net. The puck squirted over to the
left side of the crease where Wilson slipped under the Sharks defense and
pushed a shot into a wide open net. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun were
caught too high on the play, and could only sit and watch as Wilson helped
Nashville grab the early 1-0 lead.
Brent Burns tied the game less than
3 minutes later, firing a shot from a severe angle on the right side, lifting
the puck between Pekka Rinne's left arm and the right post. There was nothing
particular unique about the goal. Burns skated it up the right wing and snapped
a shot from the outside of the right circle for his 3rd goal of the playoffs.
Another defensive lapse cost the Sharks just before the midway mark of
the period, when Mike Fisher slipped past the Sharks blueliners to bang home a
rebound. James Neal ripped a shot from the left dot that bounced off Jones and
trickled to the right side. Once again, Vlasic was caught flat-footed, but Joe
Thornton's inability to get back and defend Fisher is what ultimately cost the
Sharks. With another wide open net, there was no doubt that Fisher would
deposit the puck once he got past Thornton.
Roman Josi was called for
interfering Joe Pavelski at 12:09 of the 2nd period, putting the Sharks on the
power play for the first time in the game. San Jose squeezed out every second
of the ensuing power play before rookie Joonas Donskoi fired a shot from the
left point that hit Ryan Ellis' stick, deflecting through Rinne's 5-hole.
Predators head coach Peter Laviolette challenged the play, citing an offside
infraction on Paul Martin. after a lengthy review the goal was allowed to stand
after Martin was ruled to have touched the puck in the Nashville zone after
Joel Ward tagged up.
Justin Braun was sent off for high sticking late
in the period, but the Sharks made it to the 2nd intermission still tied. San
Jose killed the 38 seconds that carried over into the 3rd period, but Burns
sailed a clearing pass over the glass to put the Predators right back on the
power play.
Solid penalty killing was the story of the day for San
Jose, who made it through the Predators third man-advantage of the game.
The tables were turned on Nashville, who got themselves into penalty
trouble when Mikka Salomaki was sent off for leveling Logan Couture from
behind, drawing a boarding penalty. Barrett Jackman was then sent off at 6:43
for kneeing Chris Tierney.
San Jose wouldn't waste their power play.
Burns helped the Sharks grab the lead with a rocket shot from the left point
that hit Josi in the hand, redirecting into the Nashville net.
The next task at hand was to keep the Predators off
the board, but it wasn't to be as James Neal converted with 4:21 left in
regulation. The Nashville forward scored after he had missed on a wide open net
moments earlier. Neal gathered in a rebound and deposited a shot from the
inside edge of the left circle, firing the puck into an open net again. Jones
misplayed the puck, sliding too far out of his own net and exposing the goal
mouth for the easy tally.
The game headed to overtime, where a
controversial play left the Sharks scratching their heads. Midway through the
period, Joe Pavelski crashed the net, gloving a puck up high before dropping it
and crashing into Rinne as he swatted the puck into the Predators goal. Problem
is, Pavelski was cross checked into Rinne. To make matters worse, Pavelski was
also tripped by Shea Weber, which resulted in Pavelski's inability to continue
the play and shoot the puck as he normally would have.
Credit the
Sharks captain for still sticking with the puck and having the presence of mind
to get his stick on the puck to push it across the net. Referee Eric Furlatt
immediately waved the goal off, but then the play went to review. After all
that, Furlatt announced that Pavelski had interfered with Rinne, so the goal
did not count.
Insanity.
The NHL didn't want a playoff game
decided by a video replay, so they waved the goal off. It was classic NHL. No
control over their own game, especially when it mattered most.
Joel
Ward would then miss two minutes later on a wrap around chance that sailed wide
of the of the goal mouth. An ensuing scrum in front of the net had three
Predators players dive on the puck to cover it in their own crease. Covering
the puck in the crease is a penalty by the way. Or at least when the league
feels like calling it.
It was back and forth in the 2nd overtime. Joe
Thornton took a high sticking penalty 2:56 into the period, but once again, the
Sharks penalty killers snuffed out the Predators. Tomas Hertl had a chance with
3:45 left in the 5th period, but Rinne denied him with a blocker save.
Weber obliged the Sharks with a high sticking infraction of his own with 2:03
left in the frame. The Sharks power play looked lethargic on the man advantage,
not generating a single shot on goal during the 2 minute opportunity.
In the 3rd overtime, the Sharks made a push 7 minutes in, but got caught when a
puck kicked out of the Nashville zone creating a breakaway chance for Colin
Wilson. Jones came up big by making his biggest save of the game.
Weber took another penalty to give the Sharks yet another power play chance.
And once again, it failed. It failed miserably. The Sharks never challenged
Nashville with their last to power play chances, but the last one gave the
Predators life.
It invigorated them.
Jones luck ran out long
after his teammates called it a day. Fisher's goal sent the Continental Tire
Center into a frenzy, as they even up the series at 2-2.
The two teams
will compete in a best of three series that starts Saturday in San Jose.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
2OT |
3OT |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| NSH |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, NSH,
Wilson 4 (Ekholm, Ellis), 0:41. 2, SJ, Burns 3 (Couture, Martin), 3:08. 3, NSH,
Fisher 3 (Neal, Josi), 9:50. |
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| 2nd period - 4, SJ,
Donskoi 3 (Vlasic, Martin), 14:09. |
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| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Burns 4 (Couture, Thornton), 6:48, (pp). 6, NSH, Neal 4 (Ellis, Wilson), 15:39.
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| 3rd Overtime - 7, NSH,
Fisher 4 (unassisted), 11:12. |
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| 1st period - Burns, SJ
(tripping), 16:48. |
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| 2nd period - Wingels, SJ
(roughing), 6:38; Forsberg, NSH (roughing), 6:38; Josi, NSH (interference),
12:09; Braun, SJ (high sticking), 18:38. |
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| 3rd period - Burns, SJ
(delay of game - puck over glass), 0:32; Salomaki, NSH (boarding), 3:43;
Jackman, NSH (kneeing), 6:43. |
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| Overtime - Vlasic, SJ
delay of game - puck over glass), 9:02. |
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| 2nd Overtime - Thornton,
SJ (high sticking), 2:56; Weber, NSH (high sticking), 17:57. |
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| 3rd Overtime - Weber,
NSH (interference), 7:59. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
45 |
41 |
| NSH - Rinne |
47 |
44 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
2OT |
3OT |
T |
| SJ |
5 |
12 |
5 |
9 |
11 |
5 |
47 |
| NSH |
10 |
8 |
9 |
11 |
4 |
3 |
45 |
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| Referees: Dwyer,
Furlatt. Linesmen: Amell, Racicot. |
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