Based on the last two games, the San Jose
Sharks are terrible in the shootout. They demonstrated that once again on
Thursday, falling to the Florida Panthers 4-3 in the shootout at SAP Center.
San Jose overcame a 2-goal deficit in the 3rd period and actually claimed the
lead, before allowing Florida to tie the game with 82 seconds left in
regulation. The Sharks then missed all 4 chances in the shootout, falling when
Sam Reinhart converted for the Panthers in the 4th round of the skills
competition.
The game was decided 9:14 into the game when Sharks
forward Luke Kunin was ejected from the game with a match penalty for an
open-ice hit on Patric Hornqvist. Kunin was ruled to have hit Hornqvist with a
shot to the head as the Panthers winger was leaning forward.
That play
gave the Panthers a 5-minute power play, which they used to grab a 1-0 lead.
The Sharks made a valiant effort to kill the penalty, but Aleksander Barkov
would convert with 29 seconds left in the penalty. Barkov was the beneficiary
of an errant pass he made to linemate Anton Lundell in the slot. Sharks
goaltender James Reimer tracked the pass by sliding to the top of the crease to
cover what should have been a shot by Lundell, but it kicked off a stick and
bounced right back to Barkov for the goal in to an undefended net.
The
Sharks started the 2nd period by out-shooting the Panthers 10-1 to start the
period, but Florida would pick up the pace late and end the period with a 14-13
advantage in the frame.
Steven Lorentz had the best look of the period
for San Jose with 5 minutes to play, but Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky
denied the partial breakaway chance.
That miss would bite the Sharks
who surrendered a goal to defenseman Radko Gudas with just over 4 minutes
remaining in the period. Gudas threw the puck at the net, and Reimer's late
break on it allowed a stoppable shot to find the goal. It was Gudas' 1st goal
of the season.
Tomas Hertl fired a shot on Bobrovsky with 2 minutes
left in the period, slipping it between Bobrovsky's pads, but the puck stopped
on the wrong side of the goal line. San Jose tried to get to the puck but it
was swept away at the last second.
Gudas took a boarding penalty with
7.1 seconds left in the period, which carried over to the 3rd period. Gustav
Forsling made life difficult for his teammates when he lofted a puck over the
glass 30 seconds into the 3rd period to give the sharks a 5-on-3 advantage.
San Jose would capitalize on the power play chance when Timo Meier
one-timed an Alexander Barabanov feed past Bobrovsky for his 4th goal of the
season. Barabanov skated toward the top of he left circle where he snapped a
pass diagonally to Meier on the right side.
The Sharks still had almost 90 seconds of power play
time while Forsling sat for his penalty following Meier's goal, but San Jose
failed to capitalize on the man-advantage.
Erik Karlsson continued to
carry the Sharks by scoring the equalizer at 6:34. The defenseman gathered a
Nick Bonino pass in the high slot before snapping a shot from the top of the
left circle that wove through traffic to beat Bobrovsky for his 10th goal of
the season.
Defenseman Matt Benning got in the scoring later in the
period, doing his best Karlsson impersonation. Like his defensive compatriot,
Benning snapped a long shot from the high slot that beat Bobrovsky for his 1st
goal as a Shark. More importantly, it gave the Sharks their 1st lead of the
game.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice pulled Bobrovsky for the extra
attacker with 2 minutes to play. The move worked as Carter Verhaeghe converted
with a shot from a tough angle along the left side of the goal line with 1:22
to play.
The Sharks would take a penalty for too many men 3:43 into
the overtime period, surrendering a man-advantage in the extra period for the
second straight game. Brandon Montour evened things out with a holding penalty
15 seconds later.
That would just extend to the inevitable where San
Jose fizzled in the shootout.
Game Notes: * Erik
Karlsson has scored all 10 of his goals in the last 10 games. He has amassed 17
points in total over his last 11 games. His goal count leaves him 2 shy of the
league lead.
* Per statistician Darren Stevens, Matt Benning's goal
was his first in 106 games which snapped the longest active goal drought in the
league.
* Sharks head coach David Quinn left the Sharks fate in the
hands of Logan Couture, Kevin Labanc, Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier in the
shootout. All four missed on their chances. Karlsson rang his shot off the left
post.
* Now the Sharks will wait and see if Luke Kunin will face any
disciplinary action for his hit on Patric Hornqvist. The Panthers forward did
not return after taking this shot to his head.
* Matthew Tkachuk
recorded 10 shots in the game. More importantly he added assists on all 3
Panthers goals.
