When the Sharks dropped their 3-2 shootout
decision to the Dallas Stars on Saturday it planted a seed of belief. It proved
they could compete with top tier teams. They got their chance to build on that
on Tuesday night as Dallas came calling. That seed was doused in oil, wrapped
in gasoline and blown up with a stick of dynamite as San Jose let a 3-goal 3rd
period lead slip through their fingers to eventually fall 7-6 in overtime on a
Roope Hintz goal.
It's hard to describe how a gut punch feels, but the
Sharks have endured so many of them the past three seasons that it's pretty
clear that this one stings as bad many of the other come from ahead losses.
After allowing the Stars to tie the game with three unanswered goals
with 7 minutes to play, a little bad luck struck the Sharks in overtime.
William Eklund was hit in the ankle rendering him useless in the modified
3-on-3 format. Dallas took full advantage, working the puck away from the other
two defenders before Hintz put a shot past Kappo Kahkonen.
The Sharks
netminder would surrender 7 goals on 41 shots. It was a massive missed
opportunity as Kahkonen's counterpart Jake Hints allowed 6 goals on only 20
shots.
Anthony Duclair staked the Sharks to the early 1-0 lead after
Miro Heiskanen was sent for tripping. The Sharks worked a pretty three pass
sequence that ended with Fabian Zetterlund feeding Duclair for the one-time
chance off the end boards. Duclair split Jake Oettinger's pads with the ice
hugging shot that helped the Sharks winger earn a share of the team lead in
goals scored with 15.
Duclair returned the favor 9 minutes later with
a setup from the right wing boards. Duclair chased down a partial dump in, then
did a 270 degree turn to face the off wing where he saw Zetterlund cutting
toward the net. A subsequent pass hit Zetterlund in stride, but the Sharks
forward knuckled the shot to cross up Oettinger.
Things looked like
they were going swimmingly for San Jose as the end of the period approached,
but the wheels fell off when Kyle Burroughs and Mikael Granlund took penalties
17 seconds apart.
Dallas converted between the two penalties when
Jamie Benn tipped a Heiskanen shot past Kahkonen at 18:38.
Logan
Stankoven converted on Granlund's penalty with a put back attempt on the left
side after Kahkonen failed to seal off that side of the net.
Ryan
Carpenter put the sharks back on top 4:39 into the 2nd period on a put back
chance of his own. Marc-Edouard Vlasic ripped a shot from the blueline that
Oettinger denied, but Nico Sturm got a stick on it, deflecting it over to the
space near the bottom of the right circle where Carpenter was lurking for a
shot attempt that converted for the forward's 4th goal of the season.
Dallas re-tied the game at 8:46 when Wyatt Johnston converted his 20th of the
season on a tap in from the right side. Benn carried the puck up the right side
before doing a 360 on the left side and feeding his young linemate for the
Stars 3rd goal of the night.
Former Sharks captain Joe Pavelski aided
his old team at 15:25 by taking a tripping penalty. That would setup Duclair's
2nd tally of the night. The Sharks forward fought off a gaggle of bodies,
taking a couple of hacks at the loose puck in front of the net before punching
it home.
Filip Zadina scored his 10th goal of the season at
17:50 on a point blank chance after mike Hoffman fed him the puck with a bullet
pass out of the right corner. Zadina was setup at the top of the crease where
he collected the Hoffman assist and lifted it past Oettinger for the 5-3 lead.
Mikael Granlund got in on the act 3 minutes into the 3rd period with a
snipe from right side. Duclair forced the issue with some strong puck work down
low. He would make the feed out to Granlund out front for the quick wrist shot
that beat Oettinger.
Logan Stankoven worked a shot past Kahkonen at
12:58 to cut the Sharks lead to 2 goals. His shot squirted between the
goaltender's torso and right arm, but it was actually Kahkonen who kicked the
puck across his own goal line.
It turned into nail biting time when
Johnston added his 2nd of the night just 43 seconds later.
The 20
year-old Johnston recorded his first career hat trick 2 minutes later by
punching home a rebound off a Heiskanen shot. Once again Kahkonen was late to
get a post covered and Johnston made the Sharks pay.
The overtime
frame was short and painful. Extremely painful.
Game
Notes: * William Eklund returned to the Sharks lineup after missing
the Sharks 4-3 loss to Minnesota on Sunday.
* Ty Emberson, Kevin
Labanc and Nikita Okhotiuk were all scratched on Tuesday night.
*
Anthony Duclair has 5 goals in his last 4 games, and 8 in his last 11 contests.
His 4-point night tied a career high.
* Filip Zadina set a career high
in goals scored with 10 goals with his 2nd period goal. Zadina has racked up 5
goals in his last 9 games.
* Several reports indicate that the Sharks
are not getting much interest from other teams as the NHL Trade Deadline
approaches. That deadline ends at noon on Friday, but San Jose's trade worthy
players are all carrying contracts big enough to scare off teams. San Jose has
one option remaining salary deferral option available, but it's unlikely they
will use is this season. They're already paying part of Brent Burns and Erik
Karlsson's contract, which consumes 2 of their 3 deferrals.
