By Taylor Lupetti (@tayclupetti)
After clinching a spot in the 2018 playoffs Sunday, the San Jose Sharks returned home to SAP but fell to the Dallas Stars, 4-2.
San Jose (44-26-10) held Dallas (41-31-8) scoreless during the first period and climbed to a 2-0 lead. However, the Stars responded with four unanswered goals.
The leading scorer for the Sharks, left-wing forward Logan Couture, got things started halfway through the first with San Jose’s first goal of the night. The power play goal was his 33rd of the season.
Right-wing forward Timo Meier followed Couture’s goal 15 minutes into the first period.
Despite leading the first, Dallas left-wing forward Jamie Benn got a hat trick to secure the Stars’ 4-2 victory.
Benn’s first goal of the night came in the final 30 seconds of the second period to bring the score to 2-1 in favor of the Sharks.
Stars left-wing forward Gemel Smith was the first to score in the third period with less than six minutes of play remaining to tie the game.
Benn finished with two unassisted goals at 16:54 and 19:36 (empty-net) to earn his hat trick.
San Jose defenseman Brent Burns got the assist on both Couture and Meier’s goals, and was the only Shark in the games’ three stars.
The Sharks’ 31 shots on goal in comparison to the Stars’ 22 was no match for Dallas goaltender Mike McKenna, who protected the net 29 times. McKenna’s stance in the net gave him his first NHL win in over three years.
Minding the net for San Jose was Martin Jones with 19 saves.
With only two games remaining in the regular season, the Sharks are staying home to take on the Colorado Avalanche Thursday at 7:30 p.m.