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Hertl's hat trick saves
Sharks
SJ wins wild 7-6 overtime shootout in
D.C.
The Sharks scored the first and last goals of
Tuesday nights wild game in Washington D.C. In between that, the Sharks and
Capitals scored eleven more goals in what amounted to an All-Star game preview.
No defense to be seen. The 13th goal of the night came in overtime, when Tomas
Hertl deposited a Logan Couture feed 1:48 into the extra period. The goal also
gave Hertl a hat trick, his second in as many weeks. The 7-6 also snapped San
Jose's 3-game losing streak.
The loss extended the defending Stanley
Cup Champions losing streak to 6 games. Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin
also recorded a hat trick in the shootout. The game's most dramatic moment came
at the end of regulation when Evander Kane tied the game at 6-6 with 1 second
remaining on the clock.
Kane jammed home the puck while parked on the
right post after Joe Pavelski heaved a pass form the left wing boards.
Pavelski's pass somehow got through a sea of bodies that were jostling in front
of Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby. The play went to replay to confirm there
was time on the clock, but Kane knew it was good. Holtby sat in his crease
stunned that the Capitals had blown the lead and looked poised to lose for the
sixth consecutive game.
That came to fruition in less than 2 minutes
into the extra frame when Hertl worked his magic with Couture.
San
Jose seemed destined to snap their own 3-game losing streak, but coming out
firing to start the game. Joe Pavelski tapped home a deflection on the opening
shift of the game 12 seconds into the game. Brent Burns fired a shot from the
right point that hit Timo Meier at the top of the crease. The puck deflected to
the right, where Pavelski deposited it with a swipe of the backhand.
Ovechkin scored the first of his three goals 10:41 in on a power play after Tim
Heed was sent off for hooking. Martin Jones made a pair of saves on shots from
out front, but the puck kicked over to the left side off a Niklas Backstrom
shot. Ovechkin flipped the puck top shelf from outside the left post for his
34th goal of the season.
Andre Burakovsky put the Capitals up 2-1 less
than 2 minutes later when he put a shot top shelf from the left dot. Jones was
partially screened by Radim Simek, who tried to get in front of Burakovsky's
shot.
Hertl scored the first of his trifecta at 14:27 of the period on
a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Joe Thornton and Pavelski. Hertl dished the
puck to Thornton on the left wing boards, then skated toward the net. Pavelski
redirected Thornton's feed out to the slot where Hertl was crashing for the
deposit.
T.J. Oshie allowed Washington to head to the first
intermission with a one-goal lead after he took an Ovechkin feed in the slot
than skated around Jones for the easy deposit.
Kane opened the 2nd
period by punching home a rebound from the left post just 52 seconds in after
the Sharks had several chances to put the puck past Holtby. Kane started the
shooting barrage with a chance from the right side. As Meier and Pavelski tried
jamming at the loose puck, Kane swooped around the back of the to the left side
which turned out to be a fortuitous decision.
Evgeny Kuznetsov put a
big rebound in an empty net from the bottom of the left circle after Jones was
forced to come out of the net to cut the angle on a Jakub Vrana shot from the
slot.
Ovehskin pushed the Capitals lead to 5-3 less than three minutes
later, snapping a shot from the top of the left circle that eluded Jones.
Sharks defensemen Brendan Dillon and Justin Braun screened their own goaltender
as the pair tried covering Backstrom.
Logan Couture cut into that lead with his 19th goal of
the season at 14:39. Kuznetsov tried to drop the puck back to Travis Boyd at
the Sharks blueline, but Couture stepped in front of the pass, then raced up
ice unimpeded. The Sharks forward deeked Holtby with a head fake to the left
before cutting right and sliding a backhand chance through the five-hole.
Ovechkin made it a 2-goal led for the Capitals again, 5:52 into the
3rd period. The Capitals skated into the Sharks zone 3-on-3 before Vrana sent a
pass through the slot to Ovechkin on the left wing. Lukas Radil had a step on
Ovechkin, but the rookie overkated the coverage, allowing the Capitals captain
to receive the pass and whip a shot past Jones. Radil screamed in frustration
after the goal, as the reality of his mistake became evident.
John
Carlson was whistled for holding at 8:49, which put the Sharks on the power
play for the 6th and final time in the game. Hertl converted on a one-time
chance from the slot after Pavelski fed him from behind the net. The play
looked similar to Hertl's first goal of the game, as the Czech forward found a
seem in the Capitals defense and had Holtby dead to rights with the 15 foot
shot.
San Jose used the remaining 10 minutes of the period to try to
generate the equalizer, but Washington seemed ready to deny the Sharks. They
fell a second short when Kane worked his magic.
Hertl salvaged two
points for the Sharks on what was otherwise a miserable road trip with his game
winner at 1:48 of overtime.
Game Notes:
* Tomas Hertl's
hat trick was the first in Sharks history that ended with an overtime goal.
* Defenseman Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic continue to nurse
their injuries. Karlsson missed his 3rd straight game, while Vlasic was absent
for the 10th consecutive game.
* Of the 13 total goals scored in the
game, Sharks defenseman Brent Burns was on the ice for 10 of them. He was on
the ice for 6 Shark goal and 4 Capital tallies. He finished the game a +1 with
2 assists.
* Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl had 7 shots apiece. The
Sharks finished the game with 43 shots total. T.J. Oshie led Washington with 6
shots on goal.
* Joe Pavelski finished the night with a goal and 3
assists. Hertl added an assist to also finish with a 4 point night.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
| WAS |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 27 (Meier, Burns), 0:12. 2, WAS, Ovechkin 34 (Backstrom, Oshie),
10:41, (pp). 3, WAS, Burakovsky 6 (Stephenson, Boyd), 12:11. 4, SJ, Hertl 20
(Pavelski, Thornton), 14:27, (pp). 5, WAS, Oshie 15 (Ovechkin, Carlson), 15:19.
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| 2nd period - 6, SJ, Kane
20 (Meier, Burns), 0:52. 7, WAS, Kuznetsov 9 (Vrana, Wilson), 2:53. 8, WAS,
Ovechkin 35 (Backstrom, Oshie), 5:41. 9, SJ, Couture 19 (unassisted), 14:39.
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| 3rd period - 10, WAS,
Ovechkin 36 (Vrana, Kuznetsov), 5:52. 11, SJ, Hertl 21 (Pavelski, Couture),
10:02, (pp). 12, SJ, Kane 21 (Hertl, Pavelski), 19:59. |
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| Overtime - 13, SJ, Hertl
22 (Couture), 1:48. |
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| 1st period - Heed, SJ
(hooking), 10:28; Oshie, WAS (tripping), 13:46; Nikanen, WAS (tripping), 18:46.
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| 2nd period - Eller, WAS
(delay of game - puck over glass), 3:03; Jaskin, WAS (hooking), 11:45; Burns,
SJ (tripping), 12:34. |
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| 3rd period - Kane, SJ
(slashing), 0:53; Bench, WAS (too many men), 2:50; Carlson, WAS (holding),
8:49. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
39 |
33 |
| WAS - Holtby |
43 |
36 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
15 |
13 |
13 |
2 |
43 |
| WAS |
14 |
12 |
11 |
2 |
39 |
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| Capital One Arena -
18,506 |
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| Referees: Furlatt,
McIsaac. Linesmen: Suchanek, Nowak. |
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