Start plotting the Stanley Cup parade route
folks, because the Sharks have won two games in a row. San Jose followed up
their 2-1 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday by sweating out a 3-2 win over the
Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at SAP Center. Fabian Zetterlund and Tomas Hertl
each has a goal and an assist to lead San Jose. San Jose still sits in the NHL
basement, but they've at least drawn even with Edmonton in standings points by
earning their 5th point of the season.
San Jose better relish the
winning streak, because they travel to Vegas Friday night. Tired legs and the
best record in the NHL await the Sharks, but for the next 24 hours, they'll get
to enjoy winning back to back games. After dropping their first 11 games to
start the season, they'll take any shape of win.
MacKenzie Blackwood
led San Jose with 39 saves after having to face bushels of shots once again.
The netminder should have negotiated his pay on the number of shots faced,
because he's averaging 39.5 shots against per 60 minutes, which is tops in the
league.
Tonight he let 2 pucks get by, but his teammates picked him up
by putting 3 of them past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner.
San Jose
took a pair of penalties in the opening period, but the special teams held the
fort. The Sharks countered when Zetterlund scored his 4th goal of the season
with 1:25 remaining in the frame. Hertl handled the puck behind the net before
sliding a pass out to the slot where an unguarded Zetterlund snapped a shot
past Stuart Skinner.
Darnell Nurse leveled the game at 1-1 just 1:56
into the 2nd period when he raced up the right side on a 2-on-1 break before
snapping a shot over Blackwood's left shoulder.
Hertl helped San Jose
reclaim the lead at 9:05. From the sometimes it's better to be lucky than good
category, the Sharks got a fortuitous rebound off a Zetterlund shot from the
left point. Skinner gave up a fat rebound right to Hertl on the right side for
the easy put back chance. The shot was a no doubter and Hertl had his 2nd goal
of the season.
Blackwood preserved that lead with a pair of save
sequences that really made their mark. Edmonton had a flurry of chances with 7
minutes to play, after the Sharks goaltender misjudged a waist high shot that
he failed to glove. The Oilers turned that opportunity into a series of shots
that upped the blood pressure in the building.
The Sharks pushed their
advantage to a pair of goals 1:53 into the 3rd period when Filip Zadina buried
a Zetterlund feed on a 2-on-1 break. Zetterlund carried the puck up the right
side when Nurse misplayed the puck along the side boards, drawing defenseman
Cody Ceci over to the strong side before feathering the puck to Zadina for his
3rd deposit of the season.
Zetterlund drew an Oilers penalty at 5:43 by
fighting off three Edmonton defenders and luring Ryan Nugent-Hopkins into
taking a hooking penalty. The Sharks fist power play of the night was
short-lived when William Eklund obliged the Oilers with his own hooking penalty
Down by 2 goals, the Oilers pulled SKinner with 2:50 to play. They
cashed in when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored from the right side at 17:34.
Mikael Granlund took an ill-advised tripping penalty on the ensuing
faceoff, giving Edmonton their 4th power play of the night. Oilers head coach
Jay Woodcroft pulled Skinner, but it was too little too late. Blackwood did his
thing and the Sharks got to enjoy a second consecutive win.
Game
Notes: * Calen Addison made his Sharks debut on Thursday night
after being acquired from the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. The defenseman saw
time on the power play as well. Addison skated 19:47 of ice time on 23 shifts,
recording 2 shots on goal and 3 blocked shots.
* Chalk up first points
of the season for Nico Sturm and Ryan Carpenter. Both recorded assists on Filip
Zadina's 3rd period goal.
* Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm and Leon
Draisaitl all recorded 5 shots on goal. Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid added 4
shots each. Tomas Hertl led San Jose with 3 shots on goal.
* San Jose
recalled left winger Oskar Lindblom from the Barracuda. He was a scratch, along
with Ty Emberson and Nikolai Knyzhov.
* Tomas Hertl was 15 of 25 on
draws (60%) to lead San Jose. The Sharks held a 32-26 advantage in draws (55%).
