I think we can take that into Game 4. It had everything.offense, defense, goaltending, controversy, overtime, more overtime and even more overtime. Now, at least we’ll see if team teal has the fortitude and strength to win Game Five when many may be counting them out after falling in such an emotional game and losing two straight. “I’m sure the fans enjoyed it”.
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Game 5 is Saturday night in San Jose.
The Sharks and Preds exchanged punches for almost 130 minutes of breathtaking, heart-pounding minutes.
As the Sharks and Nashville Predators entered the third overtime period, only one thing was certain.
Finally in the third overtime the ice began to tilt in San Jose’s favor and then.disaster.
With the Sharks unable to control the puck deep in their zone, goalie Martin Jones stopped a shot from the inside the blue line by Mattias Ekholm but couldn’t corral the rebound.
Following the game tying goal, the Predators’ challenged the play for offsides.
The fans were awesome all night long and probably gave Nashville that little extra oomph to win the game.
“We didn’t have a great faceoff night, including myself, I didn’t do too well”, said Sharks forward Joel Ward, who went 1-for-7 in the circle on Tuesday.
NOW we have a series.
This was the longest game for the Sharks since a four-overtime game in Dallas in 2008.
Capuano said Wednesday on a conference call that the hit was high and noted suspensions for high hits in the other Eastern Conference series where Washington’s Brooks Orpik received a three-game suspension and Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang one.
What would a triple-OT game be without some controversy?
The third period saw Nashville take control of the game, peppering Jones with 12 shots compared to the nine Sharks shots thrown at Rinne. The goal was immediately waved off, followed by a replay review.
Following the release of contact by Gaustad on the back of his opponent, Pavelski remained in a balanced position and made a controlled play to drop the puck on to his stick.
That’s how it was explained anyway. He gloved the puck down as he was knocked to the ice by Miikka Salomaki, with it going off Rinne’s pad. It should have been a good goal. It wasn’t called that way and the rest is history.
Still, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer stressed throughout the season that faceoffs were also a big indication of a team’s compete level. I thought the Shark finally found their groove 5-on-5. San Jose wore down the “elite” Preds defense and had it not been for the unreal play of Rinne, they game could have gone San Jose’s way. He made several excellent stops and when he was beaten, the post and cross-bar were there to bail him out.
For the series, Joe Thornton, Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture and Chris Tierney are all above 50 percent. His 36-year-old legs looked a lot fresher as the overtime extended into the early morning hours.
Jones ended with 41 saves for San Jose, which finished with a 47-45 edge in shots on goal and a 111-102 advantage in total shots. His line was evern more impressive than Jumbo’s. Couture had two assists, five shots on 9 attempts, 2 hits, 2 blocks and 2 takeaways.
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Will the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators continue to flirt with the over when they meet in Game 4 tonight at 9PM ET? It’s gut check time in the San Jose locker room.
