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Dell and Couture lead Sharks in
Vegas
Overtime wins vs Golden Knights never get
old
Overtime wins are usually dramatic. When it comes
against the Vegas Golden Knights, they're just plain fun. After letting their
slim 1-0 lead slip in the 3rd period, the Sharks regrouped in the overtime to
knock off the Golden Knights in the extra frame when Logan Couture beat
Marc-Andre Fleury on a breakaway chance with 1:40 left.
With Vegas
pressing in the Sharks zone, Marc-Edouard Vlasic grabbed a turnover and flipped
a backhand feed up the center of the ice to Couture who had nothing but open
ice between he and Fleury. The Sharks captain gathered Vlasic's feed and sped
up ice, putting a shot on net.
Fleury stopped Couture's first attempt,
but a follow up chance slipped past the Golden Knights goaltender to pull the
Sharks to within three points of Vegas in the Western Conference standings.
The goal put the Sharks back in the win column after dropping a
lifeless loss to the Edmonton Oilers 48 hours earlier. The win doesn't position
the Sharks in the top 8 in the west, but it does help them keep pace with the
rest of the pack.
The Sharks should have won the game in regulation,
but a questionable decision to overturn a goal early in the contest likely cost
San Jose. The would be goal by Antti Suomela in the first period was wiped
after officials ruled that Timo Meier interfered with Fleury. Replays showed
that Meier was pushed into Fleruy by defenseman Jon Merrill, but the call
stood.
Meier made sure the next goal stood. The Sharks forward took a
Dylan Gambrell feed up the right wing, then bum-rushed Fleury, pushing the puck
across the goal line with one hand on his stick as he fought off Nate Schmidt.
The Golden Knights defenseman and Meier went flying into the goal, knocking it
off its moorings and sending Fleury sprawling.
The Vegas goaltender
took out his frustration by tripping Meier as the Sharks forward tried to skate
back to the Sharks bench. It was a petty move by Fleury, but not surprising
given the way the Golden Knights have imploded as of late.
Vegas
bagged the equalizer at 9:42 of the 3rd period when Brayden McNabb fired a shot
from the top of the left circle. Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell got a piece of
the shot, but not enough to stop Vegas from scratching out a point.
Dell played a solid gamein regulation, but stood on his
head in the overtime, stopping all 4 shots he faced. He defended a pair of
point blank shots early in the extra frame to give his team a chance to grab
the win later in the period.
Game Notes:
* Lukas Radil
was injured when Ryan Reaves drilled him with an open ice hit.
*
Speaking of Reaves, the Golden Knights agitator was awarded the games 3rd star,
which was an odd recognition given that he only skated 15 shifts for 10:38 of
ice time. Reaves never saw the ice after the 50 minute mark.
* Tomas
Hertl was an injury scratch. The Sharks forward re-aggravated his upper body
injury against Edmonton on Tuesday night.
* Per Darin Stevens, the
Sharks have now won their last 42 regular season games when holding an opponent
to 2 or fewer goals, tied for 2nd-longest such win streak in NHL history
(Pittsburgh 43, from Feb. 21, 2012 - Oct. 17, 2013 and original Ottawa Senators
42, from Dec. 29, 1917 - Feb. 18, 1922).
* The Golden Knights out-shot
San Jose 38-29. Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson accounted for 6 shots each.
Jonathan Marchessault led all skaters with 7 shots on goal.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| VGK |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Meier 6 (Gambrell), 1:26. |
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| 3rd period - 2, VGK,
McNabb 2 (Carrier), 9:42. |
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| Overtime - 3, SJ,
Couture 4 (Vlasic), 3:20. |
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| 1st period - Couture, SJ
(tripping), 8:32. |
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| 2nd period - Bench, SJ
(too many men), 9:12; Fleury. VGK (tripping), 13:14. |
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| 3rd period - Dillon, SJ
(interference), 4:18; Eakin, VGK (slashing), 11:17. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Dell |
38 |
37 |
| VGK - Fleury |
29 |
27 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
6 |
11 |
6 |
6 |
29 |
| VGK |
14 |
14 |
6 |
4 |
38 |
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| Referees:
Nicholson, O'Halloran. Linesmen: Amell, Fournier. |
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