The Sharks hit the road for the first of three
across Western Canada on Monday night, as they limp to the finish line this
season. Playing a motivated Edmonton Oilers team that is jockeying for better
playoff positioning, the Sharks went toe to toe with one of the strongest
offenses in the league, but fell short in overtime. Darnell Nurse scored with
15 seconds left in the extra period to help Edmonton knock off the Sharks 5-4.
The story of the night was three San Jose goals that were erased by
video challenges. In all three cases, the Sharks were guilty of being offside.
The Oilers also had a goal omitted on a challenge, but it was the Sharks that
paid the price. Those three goals would have helped propel the Sharks to their
first win in 6 games, but instead, they continue their spiral to futility.
Tomas Hertl appeared to give the Sharks an early lead a minute and
change into the game, but the goal was negated on an offside challenge. Replay
clearly showed that Alexander Barabanov was a step too early.
Barabanov would atone almost 4 minutes later by scoring his 15th goal of the
season. Hertl pumped a shot on Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell from the right
side, bouncing the shot over to the right side. Barabanov beat Evander Kane to
the rebound and slipped the put back attempt past Campbell for the 1-0 lead.
Nick Bjugstad answered 80 seconds later, on a backdoor slam dunk. The
Oilers had worked the puck out of the right corner on a dump in play, when
Warren Foegele collected a pass near the bottom of the right circle. The Sharks
had three defenders lean toward that right side, leaving Bjugstad all alone on
the left post. Foegele found him as James Reimer was left flailing on the
obvious goal.
A tripping penalty to Hertl setup the deadly Oilers
power play, which looked as if they had grabbed the lead when Zach Hyman
appeared to deflect a puck over Reimer. The Sharks challenged the goal, citing
goaltender interference, which was confirmed after a replay review.
Kailer Yamamoto gave the Oilers the 2-1 lead 30 seconds into the 2nd period.
The Edmonton worked the puck into the Sharks zone before Connor McDavid circled
behind the net and tried feathering a pass out front. The puck hit Ryan
Nugent-Hopkins before ending up on a Yamamoto's stick. Reimer was face down on
the ice after trying to defend against Nugent-Hopkins, leaving a wide open net
for Yamamoto.
Steven Lorentz tied the game 8 minutes later when Andrew
Agozzino hi him with a lead pass as he sprinted through the neutral zone.
Lorentz raced in on Campbell putting a shot on net unimpeded. Campbell made the
initial save but Lorentz got a stick blade on the puck as it floated out of
Campbell's glove.
Andreas Johnsson thought he scored but the Sharks
were ruled to be offside in the 2nd challenge of the night for Edmonton.
Erik Karlsson made it a 3-2 Sharks lead less than 2 minutes later.
Logan Couture and Fabian Zetterlund carried the puck up the right wing, drawing
a pair of defenders over to the boards. Zetterlund slid the puck out to the
slot where Karlsson was cutting unattended. The defenseman deeked Campbell
before slipping the puck around the goaltender for his 21st goal of the season.
Mattias Ekholm tied the game up for a 3rd time on a goal that Reimer
will surely want back. The Oilers defenseman skated in on the left wing,
cutting toward the net as he past the dot, then lifting a backhand shot that
should have been stopped. Instead, it slipped under Reimer's glove hand and
Ekholm had his 7th goal of the season.
Karlsson gave the Sharks their
4th lead of the night at 14:23 of the period, one-timing a Barabanov feed from
the high slot past Campbell. Barabanov circled around the right circle in
traffic before spotting the defenseman sliding unattended down the middle of
the ice.
San Jose put a puck past Campbell for a 7th time, but Sa Jose
had a 3rd goal negated for offside. This time it was Noah Gregor whose would be
goal was erased.
Ekholm matched Karlsson with his 2nd goal of the
night at 16:13, by walking a puck in on the left side and unloading on a slap
shot between the left dot and the edge of the circle closest to the goal.
Mario Ferraro was called for delay of game with 1:41
to play after he lofted a puck over the glass. Leon Draisaitl thought he had
the game winner with 48 seconds remaining when his one-time chance form the
fight side seemed destined for the back of the net. Reimer dove to his left
with both arms outstretched to gobble up the shot and preserve the tie.
Nurses ended things with a partial breakaway that beat Reimer and San
Jose was sent packing for the 15th time in an overtime or shootout this season.
Game Notes: * Left win Andrew Agozzino made his Sharks
debut on Monday night. The Kleinburg, Ontario native had 47 games of NHL
experience with Colorado, Anaheim, Pittsburgh and Ottawa.
* Evgeny
Svechnikov missed his 2nd consecutive game as he nurses an upper body injury.
Radim join Svechnikov as an injury scratch, missing his 8th consecutive game.
* Andreas Johnsson was injured early in the 3rd period and did not
return.
* Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson combined for 12 of the Sharks
32 shots.
* Two days after the backlash of his controversial decision
to forgo the pre-game warm-ups and not wear a rainbow themed jersey during the
Sharks Pride-Night celebration, James Reimer made 46 saves in a losing effort.
