By Daniel Reedy:
Sharks winger Melker Karlsson wristed home his first career playoff goal to take Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
After winning just one game all season in which they trailed heading into the third period, the San Jose Sharks came back in the opening game of the first round.
The Edmonton Oilers took a two-goal lead into the first intermission but the Sharks scored a goal in each of the following periods to edge the host Oilers 3-2.
Goals from Oscar Klefbom and Milan Lucic at 6:44 and 17:07 in the first period put the Sharks in a hole but the San Jose’s 2014-15 free agent signees erased the deficit.
“We just needed a little bit of a lift,” said San Jose forward Joel Ward said postgame. “It was good to put one home and start it off.”
Ward, brought in off the free agent market in 2014-15, slammed home a perfect feed on a backhand pass from Joonas Donskoi for a power-play goal to put the Sharks on the board in the second period.
Fellow 2014-15 free agent acquisition Paul Martin’s veteran experience put him in the right spot at the back side of the net to slap home a rebound from Tomas Hertl to tie the game at 2-all.
While his playoff heroics are most often goals, it was a cross-ice pass that was Joe Pavelski’s top play. The captain set up Karlsson for an open shot and “The Melk Man” rifled it past Oilers netminder Cam Talbot for the overtime victory.
“I got a good [pass] from the middle for a half breakaway. It was nice,” Karlsson said with a smile in a postgame interview.
Art Ross Trophy winner Connor McDavid picked up an assist on Lucic’s goal but was largely held in check by the Sharks’ defense that limited the Oilers’ captain to only two shots.
The Sharks dominated possession from the second period on, outshooting the home team 34-9 (44-19 for the game) after the first period.
While San Jose went just 1 of 6 on the powerplay, the Sharks doubled the Oilers’ takeaways and won the faceoff battle, 25-19. Granted, the Oilers were the worst faceoff team this season, but this was an area in which the Sharks struggled mightily last playoffs and the Sharks overall success will be dependant on the ability to gain possession off the draw.
Hertl didn’t score and finished with just the one assist, but was the x-factor for San Jose tonight. He put seven shots on target (four wide), had a huge hit in the first period, played on both special team units and was 11-4 in the faceoff circle. He was phenomenal last playoffs before going down with an injury and his production will be key for postseason advancement.
Goaltender Martin Jones wasn’t great tonight, ending with an. 895 save percentage, but only gave up two goals and was good enough after the first 20 minutes for the Sharks to come back and win.
Logan Couture returned to the Sharks’ lineup and in the absence of center Joe Thornton, Couture centered the first line with Pavelski and Karlsson.
This was the start the Sharks were looking for as they began the series on the road. NHL teams that take Game 1 win the series 69.6 percent of the time according to Hockey Reference.
Both teams return to action for Game 2 on Friday in Edmonton.
