The question everyone's been asking was
answered on Saturday afternoon, when Sharks captain Macklin Celebrini returned
to the lineup after missing the last two games with a lower body injury.
Celebrini did return, but his addition wasn't enough as the Oilers scored a
pair of goals early in the 3rd period and cruised to a 3-1 victory at SAP
Center.
The final score doesn't tell the whole story. San Jose turned
in a quality outing, they just couldn't solve Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry
beyond a Celebrini goal.
San Jose played an up-tempo opening period,
doing a good job of controlling the pace with sustained pressure in the
Edmonton zone. Colin Graf had one of the better chances early in the period,
but it was the Oilers who took advantage of their opportunities.
Mattias Ekholm staked the Oilers to the 1-0 lead 12:30 into the contest on a
blast from the left point. Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov never saw the
shot, which sailed past his outstretched glove hand. Trent Fredric stepped in
front of Askarov right as Ekholm was unleashing his shot, screening the
goaltender from a clear look at the puck.
The goal came on only the
2nd shot of the period for Edmonton. San Jose would out-shoot the Oilers 6-5 in
the period, but the majority of Edmonton's pressure came in the second half of
the frame.
The Shark continued their pressure in the middle period,
but Tristan Jarry kept the puck out of the Edmonton net. The Oilers did not
generate their first shot of the period until the 14 minute mark.
The
Sharks also laid the body throughout the game and anyone was fair game. Kiefer
Sherwood drilled Connor McDavid midway through the period, then Jacob Trouba
trucked former Shark defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin.
Relegated to the
4th line, Igor Chernyshov gave the Sharks their best chance of the period after
he went hard to the net.
Celebrini just missed tying the game right
before the end of the period after he snapped a shot from the high slot,
ringing it off the left post. The shot had Jarry beat, but it was an inch off
the mark.
Sherwood was called for a ticky tack interference penalty 22
seconds into the 3rd period for the first infraction of the game. San Jose got
the kill, but Vasily Podkolzin pumped a shot past Askarov a minute after the
penalty expired. McDavid streaked into the zone, drawing a defender, before
dishing to Podkolzin.
The Russian was skating on a line with McDavid
after Zach Hyman was scratched with an injury issue.
The Oilers 4th
line put the game out of reach at the 5:40 mark when Alex Formenton slipped
past Jacob Trouba in the neutral zone before racing up ice unimpeded. The
Oilers forward then went right on Askarov before lifting the puck home for his
1st goal of the season.
Celebrini finally got the Sharks on the board with
8:41 to play after he collected a Michael Misa pass and snapped the puck past
Jarry. Misa did a good job of fighting off a check on the left wing boards
before finding Celebrini with a short pass. It was Celebrini's 1st goal of the
season and 6th poit of the season.
Down a pair of goals, the Sharks
pulled Askarov with 3:10 to play. Podkolzin was immediately called for slashing
Celebrini to put the Sharks on the power play for the first time all game.
McDavid had a wide open net late but his shot bounced off the left post to keep
things close, but in the end the Sharks could not muster the scoring required
to even this one up.
Game Notes: * Oilers defenseman
Jake Wallman was a late scratch, so Shakir Mukhamadullin was inserted into the
lineup. Both are former Sharks. Mukhamadullin was part of the trade package
that brought Darnell Nurse to San Jose.
* Adam Gaudette was moved off
the injured reserve. He was a scratch for the game along with Ty Dellandrea and
Nolan Allan.
* Shark players wore PWHL San Jose jerseys as they walked
into the building. San Jose's 1st draft pick Laila Edwards dropped the
ceremonial puck before the contest, donning one of the new orange and blue
sweaters (which are the Oilers colors!)
* Sharks owner Hasso Plattner
was in attendance for the game.
* Darnell Nurse led all skaters with 5
shots on goal. Nurse faced his former team since being traded to San Jose last
summer.
