The Sharks wrapped up their first road trip of
the year with a crazy 6- overtime against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday
afternoon at Grand Casino Arena in St Paul. The Sharks squandered multiple
2-goal leads in the 3rd period, but Macklin Celebrini bailed them out with
improbably overtime goal after Minnesota held the puck for all but 6 seconds in
the extra period.
The Wild held possession of the puck for 3:40 in the
overtime from the only faceoff while the Sharks struggled to gain possession.
With the change on the long end, San Jose had three gassed skaters on the ice
when Minnesota wrapped a puck out of the Sharks zone.
William Eklund
rolled the dice by coming off the ice in favor of Celebrini who beat Brock
Faber to a rebound along the right wing boards. Celebrini collected the puck,
skated up ice, then snapped a shot that beat Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt
for the game winner. It was Celebrini's 3rd point of the game, but more
importantly, it gave San Jose a split in their 4-game trip.
It was
simply another example of how important Celebrini is to the Sharks. Vinny
Hinostroza helped setup the Sharks 1st goal of the game by taking an
interference penalty at 4:47 of the opening frame. Eklund converted ensuing
power play with a shot from the right side off a tight angle. Eklund may have
been trying to send the puck to the off wing, but the puck hit a defender and
made a 90 degree turn into the Minnesota net. The goal was Eklund's 3rd of the
season.
Michael Misa fulfilled a life goal by scoring his 1st NHL goal
at 13:35 on a put back opportunity from the doorstep. Timothy Liljegren went
hard to the net with the puck and jammed a shot off Wallstedt. The puck
trickled just outside of the right post where Misa was there to jam it home.
The Wild erased the Sharks lead in the blink of an eye late in the
period. First Vincent Iorio was called for a questionable cross checking
penalty as Hinostroza was falling after a faceoff. Marcus Johansson converted
on the associated power play by tapping a Marco Rossi feed while perched on the
right post. Rossi sent the puck to his linemate from the left dot. Liljegren
had hi stick on the ice but it evaded him en route to Johansson.
Vincent Desharnais overplayed a puck and missed on a poke check that allowed
Kiril Karpizov to slip past him off the very next faceoff. Kaprizov raced up
the left side then setup Rossi with a one-time chance by sending the puck
through the slot. Rossi would not miss and just like that the game was tied.
Collin Graf just missed on his 2nd tally of the season at the midpoint
of the 2nd period when he drove up the left side on a 2-on-1 break. The rookie
deeked Wallstedt with a move to his right, but his wrist shot then sailed wide
of the right post.
San Jose reclaimed the lead at 11:15 of the period
when Eklund gathered a Philipp Kurashev feed near the inside of the right
circle before taking it to the net and slipping a shot underneath Walldstedt
for his 2nd of the game.
Ryan Reaves made it a 4-2 game 19 seconds
later. Barclay Goodrow worked the puck behind the Wild net on a strong
forecheck, then curled back out of the right corner and threw it to the front
of the net. Reaves was parked out front where he redirected it past Wallstedt
for his 2nd goal of the season.
Misa was called for slashing right
after Collin Graf missed on a glorious chance 3 minutes into the 3rd period.
Ryan Hartman converted the chance into his 3rd goal of the season to cut the
Sharks lead to a single goal. The Wild forward redirected a Kaprizov feed from
the doorstep to make it interesting.
The goal marked the second power play goal the
Sharks surrendered which has been a major hold in the Sharks game. They entered
play ranked
San Jose would respond after former Sharks defenseman Jake
Middleton took an interference penalty trying to slow down Celebrini. Tyler
Toffoli one-timed a Celebrini feed past Wallstedt at 7:52 to make it a 2-goal
lead once gain.
That buffer lasted all of 36 seconds when rookie
defenseman Zeev Buium fired a puck at the net that hit Ty Dellandrea before
vaulting over Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov to make it a 5-4 game.
Dmitry Orlov and Ryan Hartman were tangled up with under 5 minutes
remaining that resulted in Hartman injuring his right leg. The on-ice officials
conferred and initially called a major penalty which then allowed a video
review. After a more in depth analysis of the play, the call was rescinded with
no penalty assessed to Orlov.
Joel Eriksson Ek tied the game with 2:18
left in regulation on a tip of a Kaprizov shot from the high slot. Eriksson Ek
was parked at the top of the crease.
The overtime looked bleak for San
Jose and their inability to gain possession of the puck Celebrini changed all
that in a blink of an eye.
Game Notes: * Jeff Skinner
was a scratch, along with John Klingberg and Nick Leddy. Skinner is not known
to be nursing anything, so it's believed that it might be a maintenance day for
the veteran forward. Leddy and Klingberg are still dealing with injuries.
* William Eklund's 1st period power play goal marked the 4th game in a
row where San Jose has scored first in a game.
* Michael Misa became
the 5th youngest Sharks to score a goal. Misa is 18 year and -252 days old.
Patrick Marleau holds the mark as youngest.
* Adam Gaudette suffered
an upper body injury in the 2nd period and did not return to the game.
* Macklin Celebrini finished the road trip with 10 points on 5 goals and 5
assists. William Eklund turned in a 3 goal, 4 assist trip.
