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Sharks hand Vegas division
crown
Botched power play ends in disaster
All those visions of catching the Vegas Knights and
overtaking them for the Pacific Division crown can be silently swept under the
rug. The Sharks dropped their last regular season match up with the Knights at
T-Mobile Arena in Nevada on Saturday night on a botched power play, ending any
thoughts of division title. The 3-2 loss to Vegas also extended the Sharks
losing streak to three games. San Jose needs two points to secure a playoff
spot, with three games to play.
Could a catastrophic collapse foil the
Sharks plans? Anything's possible. On Tuesday, the Sharks play the Dallas
Stars, who are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but cannot
eliminate the Sharks. Their next two opponents can however. The Colorado
Avalanche comes to SAP Center on Thursday and they sit 6 points behind the
Sharks with 3 games to play. The Sharks will close out the regular season on
Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild, who are two points behind San Jose.
If the Sharks play the way they have the past two games, a playoff
lockout is certainly possible.
San Jose played catch up all night.
Vegas scored a go-ahead goal three times, but the Sharks could only match those
advantages twice.
The Knights didn't record their first shot on goal
until the 2:21 mark of the game, but that shot found its way past Sharks
goaltender Martin Jones. Vegas defender Shea Theodore threw the puck on net
from the high slot, and a screen by Alex Tuch blinded Jones from ever picking
up the puck. The goal was Theodore's 8th of the season.
Sharks captain
Joe Pavelski tied the game less than 5 minutes later, depositing a big rebound
from the slot for his 21st goal of the season. Timo Meier fired a shot from the
right side, but Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made the stop with his
right leg pad. The puck kicked out right to Pavelski.
Oscar Lindberg
helped Vegas retake the lead 3:03 into the 2nd period, on what the scorekeeper
ruled as a deflection past Jones. The replay suggested that a shot by Theodore
was redirected by Marc-Edouard Vlasic's skate and skipped between Lindberg's
skates, but he never touched it. Regardless, the goal counted and San Jose was
forced to battle back once again.
Vlasic did exactly that by tying the game once again
with his career-high 11th goal of the season 9:50 into the period. Pavelski
tried putting a shot on goal from the blueline, but the puck hit Knights
defenseman Brayden McNabb in the slot. The puck landed on Vlasic's stick for a
put back chance that Fleury was late on.
A Jon Merrill tripping
penalty setup the Sharks with their 2nd power play chance of the game 7:35 into
the 3rd period. It should have primed San Jose potentially grab a lead, but a
blind pass back to the point skipped past the last Shark and sprung William
Karlsson on a short-handed breakaway chance. Karlsson carried the puck up ice
then cut to his right, dropped the puck between his skates and flipped a shot
past Jones for the 3-2 Knights lead.
San Jose should have been able to
take it to the Knights, who played 24 hours earlier. That didn't pan out as the
Knights actually out-shot San Jose 12-7 in the period. San Jose would never
really challenge Fleury the remainder of the game. San Jose pulled Jones with a
minute left in regulation, but they couldn't maintain possession of the puck
long enough to mount an attack on the Vegas net. Time expired and Vegas secured
the division title.
Game Notes:
* San Jose dropped the
season series with Vegas, going 1-2-1 against the Knights. Not only did that
drop the season series to an expansion team, but they lost to a team that
integrates gold lame' into the uniform.
* Joonas Donskoi made his
return to the Sharks lineup after missing the last eight games due to a
shoulder injury.
* Logan Couture continues to be a no-show as the
Sharks struggle to command key games. The Sharks forward was a -2, and had 2
shots on goal in 19:10 of ice time on 25 shifts.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| VGK |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, VGK,
Theodore 6 (Karlsson, Engelland), 2:21. 2, SJ, Pavelski 21 (Meier, Donskoi),
7:14. |
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| 2nd period - 3, VGK,
Lindberg 8 (Theodore), 3:03. 4, SJ, Vlasic 11 (Pavelski, Braun), 9:50. |
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| 3rd period - 5, VGK,
Karlsson 42 (unassisted), 8:35, (sh). |
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| 1st period - Kane, SJ
(hooking), 2:41; Haula, VGK (hooking), 7:32. |
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| 2nd period - Labanc, SJ
(high sticking), 5:41; Burns, SJ (tripping), 19:47. |
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| 3rd period - Merrill,
VGK (tripping), 7:35. Kane, SJ (tripping), 12:45. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
38 |
35 |
| VGK - Fleury |
31 |
29 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
14 |
10 |
7 |
31 |
| VGK |
10 |
16 |
12 |
38 |
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| Referees:
Joannette, Brenk. Linesmen: Racicot, Mach. |
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