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Sharks look lost in loss to Oilers
SJ surrenders 3rd period lead to fall to 3rd in Pacific
4/6/17 - By Mike Lee -

The Sharks true colors are starting to show at the worst possible time. With home ice in the first round of the playoffs on the line, San Jose rolled over in a 3rd period meltdown that ended in a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center on Thursday night. The Sharks blew a 2-1 lead in the 3rd period on three Milan Lucic goals and are simply absent of any answers.

San Jose had the luxury of beating up on the Vancouver Canucks their two previous games, but when the playoff bound Oilers came in to the picture, the Sharks simply rolled over in crunch time.

The Oilers brushed aside the Sharks feeble one-goal lead in the third period by going to work and blowing the Sharks out of the water. Lucic didn't bulldog his way to a natural hat trick, he simply deposited pucks with Shark defenders out of position or out of the picture altogether.

The disaster that is the Sharks special teams, failed yet again. San Jose's power play unit was 0-for-4, and the penalty kill surrendered a pair of goals on five chances. Rookie forward Marcus Sorensen was awarded a penalty shot 2:19 into the 3rd period that would have pushed the Sharks lead to two goals had he converted the chance.

He didn't of course, because details like penalty shots and special teams are things the Sharks seemingly can't be bothered with. They certainly don't seem to work on those details, because their conversion rates are near the worst in the league.

Sorensen's missed opportunity was simply foreshadowing a Sharks performance that would inevitably end in defeat. It was the ninth loss in their last twelve games. With one regular season game left and the playoff on the horizon, things look don't look very promising for this band of underachievers. Their Western Conference Championship seems like a distant memory.

Joe Ward and Brent Burns scored for the Sharks, but two goals don't mean much when you give up 4. Ward's tally came via a deflection. Burns was a point shot that slipped past Cam Talbot, who was screened by traffic.

After those two converted, the Sharks packed it in. Captain Joe Pavelski was a no-show all night. Patrick Marleau took a pair of penalties in the offensive zone in the 3rd period as the Sharks trailed. It was the perfect example of a team that has no direction right now. They're lost and don't appear to be poised to figure it out before the playoffs start next week.

If Thursday night was any indicator, the playoffs are going to be a short affair for San Jose this season.

Game Notes:

* the assist Marc-EDouard Vlasic recorded on the Joel Ward goal was the 200th of his NHL career.

* The Sharks were held to 15 shots on goal, their fewest at home since March 4, 2000 vs Carolina, when they had 13 in a 5-2 loss.

* In addition to his hat trick, Milan Lucic also whipped Micheal Haley in a fight early in the game.

* The game was announced as a sellout, but there were considerable empty seats, which has been the norm for mid-week games at the Tank this season.





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Scoring
1 2 3 T
EDM 0 1 3 4
SJ 1 1 0 2
1st period - 1, SJ, Ward 10 (Schlemko, Vlasic), 6:08.
2nd period - 2, EDM, McDavid 30 (Klefbom, Larsson), 4:40. 3, SJ, Burns 29 (Hertl), 12:30.
3rd period - Penalty Shot, Sorensen, SJ (2:19), missed. 4, EDM, Lucic 21 (Klefbom, McDavid), 4:26, (pp). 5, EDM, Lucic 22 (Klefbom, Eberle), 7:57. 6, EDM, Lucic 23 (Letestu, Klefbom), 16:31, (pp).
Penalties
1st period - Bench, EDM (too many men), 0:44; Desharnais, EDM (slashing), 4:04; Lucic, EDM (fighting major), 16:34; Haley, SJ (unsporstmanlike conduct), 16:34; Haley, SJ (fighting major), 16:34.
2nd period - Maroon, EDM (roughing), 1:00; Braun, SJ (hooking), 7:03; Larsson, EDM (tripping), 15:08.
3rd period - Benning, EDM (penalty shot - hooking on breakaway), 2:19; Bench, SJ (too many men), 4:18; Marleau, SJ (hooking), 15:34; Marleau, SJ (tripping), 18:11.
Goaltending
Shots Saves
EDM - Talbot 15 13
SJ - Jones 32 28
Shots On Goal
1 2 3 T
EDM 10 11 11 32
SJ 5 5 5 15
Power Play Conversion
EDM 2 of 5
SJ 0 of 4
3 Stars of the Game
Milan Lucic
Oscar Klefbom
Connor McDavid
Attendance
SAP Center - 17,562
Officials
Referees: Skilliter, Pollock. Linesmen: Nowak, Murchison.
Holiday Gifts at BustedTees

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