Sharks Rally for Overtime Win and Take Series from Golden Knights

The San Jose Sharks trailed the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in the third period in the decisive Game 7 of their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, and it looked like the Sharks’ season would come to a disappointing end on their home ice. Then something happened.

At 10:47, the Knights’ Cody Eakin cross checked San Jose’s Joe Pavelski on a faceoff. Pavelski was knocked off balance and then hit Vegas’ Paul Stastny and crashed to the ice, knocking himself out and cutting himself. Eakin got a five minute major penalty, as well as a game misconduct, and the Sharks went on a power play.

And what a power play it was. The energized Sharks scored four times in the next 4:01 to take the lead 4-3. Then with just 47 seconds left in the third, Jonathan Marchessault scored for Vegas to tie it up, and send it to overtime. It looked like double overtime was a possibility, something the teams did in Game 6, but at 18:19 of overtime, Barclay Goodrow of the Sharks slipped one past Marc-Andre Fleury to give San Jose a victory in the game and the series.

The Golden Knights were not happy with the ruling that the penalty was a five minute major, saying that it should have been a regular two minute penalty. Marchessault griped that it “changed the whole outcome of the game”. What changed the whole outcome of the game was giving up four goals in four minutes. Vegas also had a 3-1 lead in the series and lost three straight to lose the series, so there’s that.

San Jose will play the Colorado Avalanche in the 2nd round of the playoffs.