Written by Curtis Pashelka at Mercury News.com
The second-longest game in Sharks franchise history ended in a blink of an eye
The Sharks felt it never should have gotten to that point
Mike Fisher scored off a rebound with 8:48 left in the third overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 victory in Game 4 to even the second round playoff series at two wins each before a delirious sellout crowd at Bridgestone Arena.
Game 5 is Saturday at SAP Center and Game 6 is Monday back in Nashville.
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. Fisher emerged from the corner, got the loose puck and scored his second goal of the game.
Jones finished with 41 saves and Predators goalie Pekka Rinne had 44 saves.
The Sharks thought they had the winner with 12:26 to go in the first overtime.
On a rush, Joe Thornton passed across the ice to Tomas Hertl. His shot was stopped by Rinne, but the rebound came to Joe Pavelski. He gloved the puck down and was knocked to the ice by Paul Gaustad, with the puck going off Rinne’s pad. As the puck trickled toward the goal line, Pavelski tapped it across the line with his stick.
It was ruled on the ice, though, that Pavelski made incidental contact with Rinne and impeded his ability to make the save before the puck crossed the goal line. The call was upheld by video review after a coach’s challenge.
Officials told the Sharks and coach Pete DeBoer that Pavelski got his stick on the puck before it crossed the goal line. “It was a good goal from that point of view, but that he made incidental contact with the goalie and that’s why they waved it off,” DeBoer said.
“I don’t understand. I guess if incidental contact is if you’re getting cross-checked from behind while you’re in the air and have the opportunity to stop. I guess that’s what it is,” a visibly frustrated DeBoer said. “That rule has been as clear as mud to every coach in the league all year, so why should it be different now?”
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