San Jose Sharks Squeak By Edmonton Oilers 5-4

It certainly did not go as planned, but the San Jose Sharks managed to come away with a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at SAP Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

It certainly did not go as planned, but the San Jose Sharks managed to come away with a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at SAP Center.

The Sharks’ play was rather lackadaisical all night, and did not bring their “A-game” until the latter half of the third period. San Jose came out strong. Andrew Desjardins and Dan Boyle scored in the first period, and Tommy Wingels extended the lead to 3-1 in the second. But then the Sharks allowed three unanswered goals by the Oilers, two of them scored by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Suddenly, the Sharks found themselves trailing 4-3 to the worst team in the conference — but not for long.

At the 10:35 mark of the third period, Joe Thornton found Brent Burns in front of the net for a tap-in goal to tie the game, then minutes later, on the power play, Patrick Marleau scored off a rebound to give the Sharks a 5-4 lead.

While a win is a win, this is yet another example of the Sharks struggling at home against inferior opponents. Todd McLellan certainly didn’t seem very happy in his postgame quotes. 

"It’s a bittersweet win. It was nice to see us come back and score five, and the power play contributed. Those types of things are nice, but I’m going to leave the rink a little more frustrated than excited. I’m sure some of our players will leave that way too. Back to work tomorrow. Try to get everything straightened out.I still think our team looks lethargic. Not as much physically but mentally. Some of the coverages that we’re supposed to have, the face-off execution, picking up the right people. We’re there but we’re not really getting it done."

Considering that they play the Kings on Thursday and are in a fight for the division lead, they will need to sort things out, because this “lethargic” play is not going to cut it.

Tale of the Tape

Sharks:

• Shots on goal: 33
• Power play: 1-for-7
• Hits: 17
• Giveaways: 12
• Takeaways: 9
• Faceoffs won: 37

Oilers:

• Shots on goal: 29
• Power play: 1-for-3
• Hits: 20
• Giveaways: 11
• Takeaways: 9
• Faceoffs won: 32

Good to Know

What’s on Tap

The Kings come to town on Thursday night in what should be a great game between likely playoff combatants.