San Jose Sharks Win Alberta Trip Opener at Edmonton Oilers
By MJ Kasprzak
The San Jose Sharks win the opener of their two-game Alberta trip Tuesday, Jan. 10. Thus they stayed atop the Pacific Division and widened their lead over the host Edmonton Oilers beyond two games.
A two-day Alberta trip started with a San Jose Sharks win Tuesday, Jan. 10. They scored more than four goals for the second game in a row…and second time this entire 2016-17 NHL season.
The Edmonton Oilers were the next victim of a San Jose offense that has come alive. It has not only generated 15 goals in the last three games, but 54 in the previous 20. That includes two credited for shootout wins and three goals in four overtimes, but also just one empty-net goal.
The Sharks have thus scored 63 regulation goals against a manned net in their last 23 games after 35 in the first 18. Ten of the last 23 featured more than two such scores after just five of the first 18 did.
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Perhaps more importantly, San Jose got Marc-Edouard Vlasic back. It struggled in the defensive end to the tune of a 1-1-1 record without him, so his return overshadowed another blue-line injury to Dylan DeMelo.
Scoring Plays
The Sharks got on board 99 seconds into the game. The once-struggling Mikkel Boedker scored for the second game in a row. He corralled a Brent Burns shot that Micheal Haley got his stick on and deposited it over sprawling net-minder Cam Talbot.
Edmonton tied the score just over four minutes before intermission. Benoit Pouliot got the puck out from behind the net to Drake Caggiula on the stick-side post to backhand past Martin Jones.
However, San Jose answered four seconds after a power play ended and 18 before the period did. Burns wristed a shot through traffic to give Vlasic (and captain Joe Pavelski) an assist on the play.
Boedker got another for the Sharks 2:24 into the second. The puck came right to him wide open in the glove-side circle after it eluded Melker Karlsson.
Boedker’s fourth career hat trick extended San Jose’s lead to 4-1 before the final intermission. He deflected Vlasic’s shot, earning Haley his first NHL career multi-point game.
Still, the Oilers were not done. They got blue-line goals from Matthew Benning and Oscar Klefbom in the first 3:45 of the third period to force the Sharks to call their timeout.
However, Logan Couture had a takeaway leading to a breakaway 81 seconds later that was upheld on video review. He kicked the puck in after being tripped, but he could not even see it to do so deliberately.
Beyond Numbers
Jones had an outstanding night in net despite allowing three goals. His 33 saves gave him an unimpressive .917 save percentage, but he had more jaw-dropping stops than goals allowed. Not to mention that the first goal came from point-blank range, the second uncovered in the slot by a blue-liner joining the rush and the third fully screened.
San Jose’s two-goal lead for over 20 minutes also skewed some of the event summary statistics. Edmonton registered eight more shots (36-28) and 19 more attempts (71-52) despite losing all three possession statistics: 21-35 faceoffs, 17-10 giveaways and 12-14 takeaways. The hosts had a 20-7 edge in hits but the guests blocked 10 more shots (25-15).
The Sharks go for the Alberta Sweep at the Calgary Flames Wednesday. Four games separate the teams in the Pacific Division standings.