Written by Curtis Pashelka at The Mercury News.com
The Sharks went into a defensive shell for the final 10 minutes of the third period on Thursday as they desperately tried to protect a one-goal lead against the surging Edmonton Oilers.
When that failed, the Sharks couldn’t re-establish any type of momentum in overtime.
It all might end up costing the Sharks their season.
Goalie Martin Jones was brilliant but couldn’t stop a shot from David Desharnais, who redirected a pass from Leon Draisaitl with 1:45 left in overtime to give the Oilers a riveting 4-3 win in Game 5 of the back-and-forth opening round playoff series.
Jones had 13 saves in overtime, but Desharnais put himself in a perfect spot to receive a pass from Draisaitl. He beat Tomas Hertl to the slot and found the net to send the sold out Rogers Place crowd into hysterics and the Sharks to the brink of elimination.
Oscar Klefbom scored with 2:46 left in the third period to tie the game 3-3, as the Oilers came all the way back after trailing by two goals to take a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 on Saturday in San Jose.
“What can we do? We’ve just got to get ready for the next one,” Jones said. “Our backs are against the wall now. So we’ve got to play with some urgency and win a home game.”
Only a handful of sensational saves by Jones in overtime allowed the game to go as long as it did.
Jones had 32 saves in regulation time and was epic in overtime, stopping Draisaitl point blank and making another save on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins after the puck had bounced behind him. Jones also stopped shots by Connor McDavid and Jordan Eberle, as the Oilers recorded 12 of the first 14 shots in overtime.
The Sharks were hoping they could withstand the Oilers’ pressure in overtime and eventually find their footing.
“But you’re playing with fire when you’re playing in your own end the whole time,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “We couldn’t reestablish any offensive momentum, and I think it’s because of our mindset the last 10 minutes of the third. We were defending and sitting on the lead and did a great job of that, made one mistake and couldn’t get it back again.”
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