|
|
WCQF Game 6: Jones saves the
day
Tomas Hertl scores in double overtime to force
Game 7
Martin Jones has been the target of significant
criticism this season. After dropping Games 2, 3 & 4 in the Sharks Western
Conference, the Sharks goaltender was the biggest reason the Sharks had been
pushed to the brink of playoff elimination. San Jose got an Easter miracle on
Sunday night in Game 6, as Jones set a franchise record with 58 saves as the
Sharks knocked off the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in double overtime.
Tomas Hertl ended the game with a short-handed goal 91 minutes and change into
a nail biting contest that forces a Game 7 in San Jose on Tuesday.
This one was all Jones. The much maligned goaltender stood on his head
throughout the night, with the only blemish coming midway through the 2nd
period. For whatever reason, Jones has found his mojo. The goaltender double
digit shot counts in each of the first three regulation periods, and another 15
over the 36 additional minutes added to the game.
Jones squared up
everything he faced and rarely looked as if he needed to make the spectacular
save. His toughest challenges came in the 2nd period, when the Knights threw 17
shots at him. A wild scramble in front of the Sharks net was squelched when
Jones turned aside a pair of Jonathan Marchessault chances.
Vegas used
their home ice advantage and were intent on jumping on the Sharks early. They
out-shot San Jose 10-9 in the opening frame, but a series of chances in the
first 5 minutes of the contest fell fruitless for the home team.
The
Sharks turned the tables on the Knights in the closing seconds of the period,
when Logan Couture scored his 4th goal of the series. Brent Burns lofted a pass
out of the Sharks zone to center ice, when Couture gathered it and entered the
zone. Changing directions at the top of the left circle, the Sharks forward
sent a long wrist shot just inside the left post to bag the game's first goal.
Couture used Nate Schmidt as a screen on his shot.
Marchessault tied
the game at 11:20 of the 2nd period on a put back from the left side. The
Knights were pressing on the forecheck and managed to retain possession after a
pair of shots were turned aside by Jones. Vegas worked the puck to the point
where Shea Theodore sent in a shot on goal. William Karlsson crossed in front
of Jones as Theodore's shot hit his pad, but the puck flipped over to the left
side of the crease where Marchessault was there lift a backhand chance over
Jones.
It was the third consecutive game that Marchessault scored a
goal.
Timo Meier was sent off for tripping Karlsson at 14:26 of the
period, but the Sharks penalty killers were on their game. San Jose killed all
three power plays award to Vegas. Melker Karlsson would be sent off for
crashing into Marc-Andre Fleury in the 3rd period, but it did the Knights no
good.
San Jose went 0-for-2 on the power play, misfiring on chances in
the 1st and 2nd periods.
The Sharks looked as if they would score the
go ahead goal late in the 3rd period when Meier chipped a rebound that floated
over a fallen Fleury. Either Deryk Engelland or Jon Merrill got a glove on the
puck just as it reached the goal line in the air.
The first overtime
was a grueling 20 minutes of hockey for both teams. Unlike the regular season,
overtime in the playoff consists of full 20 minute periods and the first extra
frame when that full allocation of time. The Sharks finally out-shot the
Knights in a period, throwing 8 pucks at the net, to the Knights 7 shots.
In what was a loosely called game most of the evening,
referee Jean Hebert decided to unfurl his whistle 10:46 into the second time.
Barclay Goodrow was sent off for slashing the stick out of Brayden McNabb's
hands, awarding the Knights the only power play of the overtime.
There's no debate that Goodrow slashed McNabb, but Hebert and his partner Steve
Kozari let more than a fair share of infractions by both teams go uncalled for
the other 30 minutes of overtime. The call was made while the Sharks were in
the offensive zone, and it was inconsequential to the play.
It was
simply a head scratching call. Knights head coach Gerard Gallant has spent the
entire series peppering the officials with complaints about non-calls, so it
was perhaps influenced by his incessant whining.
Regardless, it put
the Sharks in a bad spot. The penalty killing hasn't been a strong suit for San
Jose, and already tired legs setup a huge advantage for Vegas.
The
faceoff was dropped in the Sharks zone, where Joe Pavelski won the draw.
Knights winger Mark Stone had control of the puck, but he turned it over right
in front of the Sharks net. Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic grabbed the turnover
and fired it up ice to Hertl at center ice.
Hertl raced up the ice
with Theodore on his right hip. The Sharks forward elected to shot the puck
from the top of the left circle. The unscreened shot from that distance was
something Fleury has handled all series, but Theodore tried to slash Hertl in
mid shot. Theodore's stick interference changed the shot trajectory, crossing
up Fleury.
The puck shifted enough to the left to get past the Knights
netminder and find the back of the net for the stunning game winning goal.
Hertl turned to his left and simply dropped to a knee and pumped his fist
before the Sharks bench mobbed him at center ice.
For Jones, it was
the sweetest ending to his record setting night. Several Sharks skated out to
him including backup Aaron Dell.
The Sharks survived Game 6, and shift
the series back to San Jose where the two teams will play a series deciding
Game 7 on Tuesday night.
Game Notes:
* Tomas Hertl's
short-handed goal was the first to come in a 2nd overtime in NHL playoff
history.
* The win marked the first time the Sharks have forced a Game
7 after trailing 3-1 in a playoff series.
* Martin Jones' 58 saves was
the 4th time in team history that a Sharks goaltedner has recorded 50 saves or
more. The other being Wade Falherty (56 saves in Game 7 of the 1995 series at
Calgary), Vesa Toskala (55 saves in Game 4 of the 2006 series at Edmonton) and
Evgeni Nabokov (53 saves in Game 6 of the 2008 series at Dallas).
*
Logan Couture's goal with the 38th playoff tally of his career.
*
Brent Burns was named as a finalist for the 2019 Norris Trophy, awarded to teh
top defenseman in the league. Burns joins Joe Thornton, who is also a finalist
for the Masterton Trophy.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
OT2 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| VGK |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Couture 4 (Meier), 19:51. |
|
|
| 2nd period - 2, VGK,
Marchessault 3 (Theodore, Karlsson), 11:20. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2nd Overtime - 3, SJ,
Hertl 5 (Vlasic), 11:17, (sh). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Theodore,
VGK (tripping), 9:20. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Meier, SJ
(tripping), 14:26; Marchessault, VGK (slashing), 18:50. |
|
|
| 3rd period - M.
Karlsson, SJ (goaltender interference), 5:56. |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2nd Overtime - Goodrow,
SJ (slashing), 10:46. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
59 |
58 |
| VGK - Fleury |
29 |
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
OT2 |
T |
| SJ |
9 |
7 |
4 |
8 |
1 |
29 |
| VGK |
10 |
17 |
17 |
7 |
8 |
59 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Hebert,
Kozari. Linesmen: Amell, Smith. |
|
|
|
|
|
