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Sharks on the brink after Game
5 OT loss
SJ blows 2-goal lead in 4-3
loss
The Sharks let one slip through their fingers on
Thursday night. Holding a 2-goal lead, the Sharks sat back and let the Edmonton
Oilers steal Game 5 of their Western Conference Quarter Final match up on
Thursday night. San Jose allowed the Oilers to score late in the 2nd period to
make it a 3-2 series, then let Edmonton tie the game with a goal with 2:46 left
in regulation. David Desharnais won it in overtime on the Oilers 14th shot of
the extra period to take a 3-2 series lead.
Blame this on Peter
DeBoer. He elected to fall back into a defensive posture when the Sharks were
rolling and it bit them in the back side. The Oilers had the home crowd, the
incentive, and young legs to exploit the Sharks who had nothing in the overtime
period.
The game never should have made it to overtime in the first
place. That falls on DeBoer. San Jose doesn't have the team speed to compete in
a track meet. If they were paying attention in the Stanley Cup Finals last
spring, the Pittsburgh Penguins torched them with speed.
It's not the
Sharks game. They looked tired in the overtime. They were out-shot 14-2 in the
overtime, They were beat in the overtime.
And that falls on Peter
DeBoer.
The Oilers pressed early in hope of grabbing the early
momentum. That plan worked, as the Sharks were back on their heels when Patrick
Maroon scored 5:28 into the game. Maroon established presence on the Sharks
doorstep by pushing defenseman Justin Braun out of the area, before receiving a
Matt Benning at the top of the crease to beat Martin Jones. Braun has been
nothing short of a disaster in this series and his inability to hold position
cost San Jose on the game's first goal.
The Oilers continued to throw
the kitchen sink at Jones, peppering him with shot that didn't count on the
stat sheet, because they were ringing off the post. Edmonton clanked 4 shots
off metal over the next 5 minutes.
Peter DeBoer's decision to bench
Mikkel Boedker in Game 4, then re-insert him into the lineup in Game 5 paid
dividends as the Dane converted on the back end of a tic-tac-toe passing
sequence with Marcus Sorensen and Chris Tierney at 10:12. The Sharks kept a
clearing attempt in the Oilers zone before Sorensen hit Tierney in the left
corner from the blueline. Tierney saw Boedker cutting on the right wing and
sent a one-touch pass through the slot to his linemate for the deposit in to
the wide open net.
San Jose somehow found a way to take a 2-1 lead
late in the period, when the Sharks chipped a puck out of their own zone and
caught the Oilers on a line change. Patrick Marleau carried the puck up the ice
before dishing to Joe Thornton on his left wing. Thornton threw the puck at the
Oilers net, but Cam Talbot stopped the shot. He didn't control it, and Marleau
was perched on the right post as it slipped past Talbot to jam it home for the
2-1 Sharks lead.
The Sharks out-shot Edmonton 16-13 in the period, but
it was the Oilers that had the energy. San Jose got the period they wanted
carrying the 2-1 lead into the 1st intermission.
Patrick Maroon committed the game's first penalty 6:36
into the 2nd period after he upended Martin Jones as he pursued a puck behind
the Sharks net. San Jose could not replicate the power play magic they enjoyed
in Game 4, but David Schlemko potted the Sharks 3rd goal of the night right as
Maroon's penalty expired. The defenseman sent a shot toward Talbot from the
right point, weaving it through traffic to catch the top left corner of the
net.
Penalties bit the Sharks late in the period when Timo Meier was
sent off for holding at 15:09. San Jose kept the puck out of their own net, but
Brent Burns flipped the puck over the glass with a second left on Meier's
penalty. Edmonton would cash in at 18:33, when Mark Letestu slammed home a
rebound from the left side after three Shark defenders slid over to cover Leon
Draisaitl.
The Oilers tried to muster a push early in the 3rd period,
but the Sharks kept the puck away from their goal. San Jose was content to just
dump the puck out of their own end, but that meant the Oilers would maintain
lots of offensive zone time.
Penalties would also become an important
part of the game's script when Brendan Dillon took a tripping penalty with 7:31
left in the 3rd period. San Jose clamped down this time, denying the equalizer
on the man advantage.
The Sharks held off the Oilers for 17 minutes
and change but a simple shot from Oscar Klefbom slipped past Jones late. David
Desharnais carried the puck around the back of the net then skated up the left
wing boards before slipping a pass to Klefbom. The defenseman had just stepped
on the ice when he tore into Desharnais' pass, clacking it off the right post
and into the net. Dillon may have screened his own goaltender on the shot. The
goal woke up Rogers Place which had been relatively subdued for most of the
night.
The overtime nightmare was all Oilers.
The lone chance
to win in the extra frame for San Jose came at teh 5 minute mark when Pavelski
tried to setup Thornton with a cross to the front of the net. Thornton couldn't
get his stick on the puck, and it fluttered away harmlessly.
The
Sharks death lasted 18 minutes, but it was a slow but inevitable death. The
puck never seemed to leave the Sharks zone. The multiple scoring chances
presented the obvious. This was going to end in Edmonton's favor.
Martin Jones was the only saving grace for San Jose.
Jones made a
circus save on Connor McDavid at 7:30 of the overtime on a one time chance form
the right side. He would make a handful more before Desharnais beat Tomas Hertl
up the slot and lifted the game winner. Hertl tried to hook Desharais and ride
along like a child in tow.
Desharnais scored and the Sharks are one
loss away from elimination.
Game Notes:
* After the
big Game 4 output, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns disappeared back into their
irrelevant state once again. Both players seem to labor all night and were
never factors in the game.
* Patrick Maroon had 7 hits on Shark
players in the game. San Jose continues to be on the receiving end of the hit
wins. Edmonton out hit San Jose 33-20.
* Justin Braun was the only
Shark with a -2 rating, and was on the ice for Desharnais' game winner. HE
finished the game with 10 blocked shots.
* Edmonton owned the overtime
largely because they owned the faceoff circle. The Oilers won 41 of 69 draws
(59%).
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| EDM |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, EDM,
Maroon 1 (Benning, Draisaitl), 5:28. 2, Boedker 1 (Tierney, Sorensen), 10:12.
3, SJ, Marleau 2 (Thornton, Dillon), 15:52. |
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| 2nd period - 4, SJ,
Schlemko 2 (Boedker, Ward), 8:38. 5, EDM, Letestu 1 (Draisaitl, McDavid),
18:33, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 6, EDM,
Klefbom 2 (Desharnais, Benning), 17:14. |
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| 1st Overtime - 7, EDM,
Desharnais 1 (Draisaitl, Sekera), 18:15. |
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| 2nd period - Maroon, EDM
(tripping), 6:36; Meier, SJ (holding), 15:09; Burns, SJ (delay of game - puck
over glass), 17:08. |
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| 3rd period - Dillon, SJ
(tripping), 12:29. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
48 |
44 |
| EDM - Talbot |
30 |
27 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
16 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
30 |
| EDM |
13 |
13 |
8 |
14 |
48 |
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| Referees:
O'Halloran, Walsh. Linesmen: Barton, Murray. |
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