|
|
WCQF Game 7: Hockey
Miracle
Sharks erase 3-goal deficit in 3rd period,
win in OT
There are hockey games, and there are epic hockey
games. The Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights played in the latter variety on
Tuesday night at SAP Center, in what may regarded as the greatest comeback in
San Jose playoff history. Trailing 3-0 in the 3rd period of Game 7 of the
Western Conference Quarter Finals match up, San Jose did the improbable after
captain Joe Pavelski was knocked out of the game with a cross check to the
head. The Sharks scored four goals during a 5-minute major penalty to grab the
lead, then converted in overtime to take the series.
The Sharks pulled
off the improbable trailing by those three goals with 10:47 to play. Then Cody
Eakin lit a fire under the Sharks after his crosscheck felled Pavelski, who
landed awkwardly, hitting his head on the ice. With pulling spilling on the
ice, the Sharks captain was out-cold on the ice. His motionless body cast a
dark silence over the sellout crowd, as trainers rushed to his aid.
After a few moments on the ice, Pavelski was helped to the locker room, with
wobbling legs. What happened next was an exhibition of will and motivation.
Eakin was given the major penalty and a game misconduct, which ended his
season.
The Sharks proceeded to avenge their captain and went on a
goal scoring tear.
Logan Couture started the goal parade with a shot
from the left dot at 9:20. Kevin Labanc drew the four Vegas defenders over to
the right side before sending a pass through the slot to Couture on the off
wing. That woke up the sellout crowd, and seemed to lift the Sharks even
further.
The power play continued until Erik Karlsson sent a shot to
the front of the net, before it was tipped by Tomas Hertl. The deflection
adjusted the angle enough to get it passed Marc-Andre Fleury to make it a 3-2
game. The goal came 49 seconds after Couture's goal, which left 4:04 on the
penalty.
William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault could have changed
things considerably when they found themselves on a 2-on-1 break, but
Karlsson's shot sailed wide left of the Sharks net.
Couture tied the
game at 12:53 when he took a cross ice feed from Brent Burns, then walked the
puck to the top of the left circle and ripped a shot that beat Fleury. The
Knights goaltender was screened on the shot, which found the bottom left corner
of the net. Rather than skate past his bench and high-five his teammates,
Couture skated over to the bench and hurled himself into the arms of the a
celebrating flurry of teal jerseys.
With a full minute left on the
power play, Kevin Labanc almost blew the roof off the building when he scored
at 13:21. The winger gathered a Timo Meier feed at the right point then raced
toward the net and snapped a wrist shot that tucked inside the left post.
San Jose had completed the impossible by scoring 4 goals in 4 minutes
and a second to not only erase the Knights lead, but to take the lead. San Jose
then went into clock killing mode with 6:39 still left in regulation.
Labanc complicated things when he was called for hooking with 3:41 left in the
period. The Knights would not convert on the man-advantage, but Vegas head
coach Gerard Gallant elected to pull Fleury in the waning moments of the power
play.
With his top line on the ice, Gallant generated some
extra rest during a stoppage when he sent a trainer across the ice to the
visiting player's entrance. Halfway to the gate, the trainer dropped several
items on the ice, delaying things further. Already ridiculous, the trainer put
an exclamation point on the gamesmanship when he stopped 5 feet from the door,
then turned to the officials down ice and gave a thumbs up to squeeze even more
rest in the stoppage.
With their rested 6 skaters on the ice, Vegas
scored the equalizer with 47 seconds left in regulation. Riley Smith sent a
quick pass out to Marchessault from behind the Sharks goal for a one-time
chance that slipped past Martin Jones to knot the game at 4-4.
The
Sharks had come so close to finishing off the Knights, but this one was headed
to overtime.
Both teams took either a cautious or exhausted approach
to the overtime session. San Jose out-shot the Knights 14-9 in the extra frame,
but it was one Barclay Goodrow who ended things.
The Sharks forward
took an Erik Karlsson feed up the right wing, racing around Brayden McNabb
before cutting across the top of the crease and sliding the puck around
Fleury's right leg pad for the game winner.
It was pure mayhem when
Goodrow's shot found the back of the net. The Sharks mobbed the 4th liner along
the glass in front of the penalty boxes.
The Knights stood in
disbelief, having blown a 3-goal lead. Goals by William Karlsson, Eakin and Max
Pacioretty had given the Knights what appeared to be an insurmountable lead.
The Sharks didn't care. They had completed one of the greatest feats
in NHL hockey. They celebrated, then lined up to shake the hands of their
defeated opposition. Everyone except Pavelski, who was being tended to
somewhere in the bowels of SAP Center.
Game Notes:
*
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Sharks are only the second team in
NHL history to score 4 power play goals in under a 5-minute span. The St Louis
Blues did it against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 3 of their 1998 Quarter
Finals series.
* San Jose became one of four teams to overcome a
3-goal deficit in a Game 7. They join the Washington Capitals (1988 Quarter
Finals), Edmonton Oilers (1991 Quarter Finals), and Philadelphia Flyers (2010
Conference Semi Finals)
* Not to overshadow things, but the Sharks
overcame a 3-1 deficit, winning three straight games to advance to the Western
Conference Semi Finals. They became the 29th team in NHL history to overcome a
3-1 deficit. It was the first time San Jose overcame a 3-1 deficit in games
during the playoffs.
* Barclay Goodrow's goal was reminiscent of Ray
Whitney's goal in 1995, which also came in a Game 7 after regulation had
expired. Whitney scored in double-overtime to beat the Calgary Flames.
* Kevin Labanc's 4 points in the 3rd period marked the first time a Shark
scored that many points in a period during the playoffs. Jeremy Roenick scored
4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in Game 7 of the Sharks 2008 Quarter Finals win
over Calgary.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| VGK |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, VGK,
Karlsson, 2 (Marchessault, Smith), 10:10. |
|
|
| 2nd period - 2, VGK,
Eakin 2 (McNabb, Theodore), 10:00. |
|
|
| 3rd period - 3, VGK,
Pacioretty 5 (Stone), 3:36. 4, SJ, Couture 5 (Labanc, Hertl), 9:20, (pp). 5,
SJ, Hertl 6 (E. Karlsson, Labanc), 10:09, (pp). 6, SJ, Couture 6 (Burns,
Labanc), 12:53, (pp). 7, SJ, Labanc 2 (Meier), 13:21, (pp). 8, VGK,
Marchessault 4 (Smith, Stone), 19:13. |
|
|
| Overtime - 9, SJ,
Goodrow 2 (E. Karlsson, Sorensen), 18:19. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Miller, VGK
(hooking), 1:56; McNabb, VGK (cross checking), 4:15; E. Karlsson, SJ
(tripping), 12:36; Tuch, VGK (interference), 13:26. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Reaves, VGK
(tripping), 6:22. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Eakin, VGK
(cross checking major), 9:13; Eakin, VGK (game misconduct), 9:13; Labanc, SJ
(hooking), 16:19. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| VGK - Fleury |
48 |
43 |
| SJ - Jones |
38 |
34 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| VGK |
4 |
10 |
15 |
9 |
38 |
| SJ |
11 |
9 |
14 |
14 |
48 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Furlatt,
O'Halloran. Linesmen: Cormier, Murphy. |
|
|
|
|
|
