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Sharks stun Predators with late
comeback
SJ scores three 3rd period goals to take
5-4 win
We're only 9 games into the season, but the Sharks
have had their share of ups and downs. Kicking off a 3-game road trip with a
trip to Tennessee to face the Predators, San Jose played down in the first 40
minutes, then rebounded with their best 3rd period of the season to stun
Nashville with 3 goals in the frame to wipe out a 4-2 deficit and win 5-4.
Brent Burns scored a power play goal late to help San Jose extend their win
streak to three games.
The come-from-behind thriller was no small
feat, given the Predators 5-game winning streak entering play, and their 7 wins
is tops in the NHL. That mark has been a result of the fact that Nashville
doesn't let opponents score in the 3rd period. That was all turned upside down
on Tuesday night, as the Sharks rallied with three big goals to erase their
2-goal deficit.
Burns one-timed an Erick Karlsson feed that sailed
over the left should of Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros to cap a remarkable
comeback.
Nashville overcame a brief lead in the opening period, then
looked like gang busters for the next 40 minutes.
The Californians
found themselves in early penalty trouble when Joe Pavelski was called for high
sticking PK Subban at 3:17 of the contest. Martin Jones stood tall in net,
weathering multiple shots by the Predators. Ryan Johansen obliged the Sharks by
taking an interference penalty as Pavelski was leaving the box.
Timo
Meier made Johansen pay for his transgression by out-muscling Subban from the
top of the crease for his 5th goal of the season. Joonas Donskoi threw a puck
at the net, and Meier was positioned on the doorstep the gather it and take a
pair of swipes at it. He would get his stick on the puck with Subban draped all
over him and slide a shot past Saros at 6:58.
Saros was in net after
starting goaltender Pekka Rinne was injured during the Predators game on Friday
night.
The Sharks failed to convert on a Craig Smith tripping penalty
30 seconds after the Meier goal, then a bit of bad luck cost San Jose. A
winding puck hopped over Marc-Edouard Vlasic's stick as he sat at the left
point on the Predators blueline. Viktor Arvidsson jumped the blueliner and was
off to the races. Arvidsson raced up the right wing before cutting across the
top of the crease to draw Jones wide before slipping a shot home for his 5th of
the season.
San Jose started the 2nd period 21 seconds tool late after
Filip Forsberg whipped a shot past Jones from the slot. Defensemen Erik
Karlsson and Vlasic elected to try and stick the puck out of harms way, but
both whiffed, allowing Forsberg to get a shot off that evaded Jones.
Tomas Hertl tied the game off a Predators turnover in
the Sharks zone. Hertl pounced on a loose puck near his own blueline then
exchanged passes with Logan Couture before crashing the net and slipping the
puck around Saros' right leg pad.
Nashville reclaimed the lead just
under three minutes later when Forsberg sent a feed from behind the Sharks net
to Arvidsson in the slot. The Predators had a 2-on-1 rush denied by Jones, but
the Sharks couldn't gain control of the puck, allowing Nashville to create
enough chaos in the San Jose that Arvidssson roamed the front of the net
uncovered.
San Jose fond themselves killing another penalty late in
the period, after Joakim Ryan was called for interference off a faceoff. San
Jose killed the penalty and had a chance to tie the game in the waning moments
of the infraction, but Barclay Goodrow's shot clanked off the right post.
Nashville grabbed the rebound and raced up ice 2-on-1 and finished
with a cross-ice pass from Arvidsson on the rush to Craig Smith for a goal with
just 14.7 seconds left in the period. San Jose's decision to press on offense
left them naked on the back end and Nashville capitalized. Once again, Karlsson
was on the ice, providing little defensive help.
Brendan Dillon cut
into the Predators 4-2 lead by carrying the puck up ice coast-to-coast then
whipping a shot from the right dot that beat Saros for his 1st goal of the
season. It was likely that the Predators defense weren't expecting Dillon to
carry the puck in as far as he did, and never pressed him until he was in a
shooting zone.
Joe Pavelski tied the game at 4-4 36 seconds later,
when the Evander Kane raced a turnover up the ice before feeding Logan Couture
on the left side. Couture saw Pavelski trailing on the right win, so he whipped
a pass through the slot with Saros covering the left side of the net. Pavleksi
buried the one-timer for his 5th tally of the season.
Arvidsson
finally did something to benefit San Jose when he clipped Vlassic with a high
stick. San Jose used the ensuing power play to score the go-ahead goal with
2:52 left in regulation. Brent Burns unloaded a Howitzer shot from the left dot
that Saros never saw.
Game Notes:
* Erik Karlsson
finished the game with a -3 plus/minus, and holds a team worst -7 this season.
He did earn the primary assist on Brent Burns game winning goal, but since that
came on the power play, it did not affect his minus rating.
* Rookie
Antti Suomela had another glorious chance to score his first NHL goal in the
game buy goaltender Juuse Saros made a solid save on the forwards one time
chance from the doorstep. Suomela has had numerous chances this season, but
he's been snake-bitten.
* Viktor Arvidsson had a field day with the
Sharks defense, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist. His high sticking
penalty late in the game cost his team however. The Sharks would use that
penalty to score the game winner.
* Tomas Hertl, Kevin Labanc and
Marc-Edouard Vlasic combined for 13 of the Sharks 32 shots. San Jose rallied
for 14 shots in the 3rd period, resulting in the three big goals that helped
them overcome a 4-2 deficit.
* The Predators top line of Filip
Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen combined for 3 goals and 4 assists
on the night.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
| NSH |
1 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Meier 5 (Donskoi, Burns), 6:58, (pp). 2, NSH, Arvidsson 5 (unassisted), 11:14.
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| 2nd period - 3, NSH,
Forsberg 6 (Johansen, Ellis), 0:21. 4, SJ, Hertl 3 (Couture, Meier), 7:51. 5,
NSH, Arvidsson 6 (Forsberg, Johansen), 10:45. 6, NSH, Smith 4 (Arvidsson),
19:45. |
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| 3rd period - 7, SJ,
Dillon 1 (Hertl, Burns), 11:40, (sh). 8, SJ, Pavelski 5 (Couture, Kane), 12:16.
9, SJ, Burns 2 (E. Karlsson, Kane), 17:08, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Pavelski,
SJ (high sticking), 3:17; Johansen, NSH (holding), 5:24; Smith, NSH (tripping),
7:32. |
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| 2nd period - Ryan, SJ
(interference), 17:40. |
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| 3rd period - Sissons,
NSH (high stickign), 3:38; Bench, SJ (delay of game), 5:54; Kane, SJ (triping),
9:57; Arvidsson, NSH (high sticking), 15:15. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
29 |
25 |
| NSH - Saros |
32 |
27 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
7 |
14 |
32 |
| NSH |
12 |
8 |
9 |
29 |
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| Bridgestone Arena -
17,159 |
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| Referees: Lambert,
O'Rourke. Linesmen: Gawryletz, Gibbs. |
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