Double the Pleasure: San Jose Sharks Clinch Playoff Berth, Beat Rivals
After missing the postseason last season for the first time in a decade, the San Jose Sharks are headed back to the playoffs.
Late in the third period of the Sharks’ Monday night game, the Calgary Flames knocked off the Arizona Coyotes 5-2, locking San Jose into a spot in the tournament that begins April 13th. Sam Bennett‘s pair of goals powered the Flames past Arizona.
Though they didn’t need a victory on Monday to make secure their playoff berth, the Sharks went ahead and won anyway, made even sweeter by the fact they knocked off their arch rivals, the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings, who are currently lead the Pacific Division and have already claimed a spot in the playoffs of their own, were no match for the Sharks in the third period as San Jose swam past them in the final frame.
The Kings scored first, as center Vincent Lacavalier found the back of the net with a slap shot that worked its way past Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones. The Sharks answered about four minutes later, when defenseman Justin Braun shot one home from straightaway to even the score at a goal apiece. When the whistle sounded to mark the end of period one, that 1-1 score stood.
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San Jose jumped out to their first lead about eight minutes into the second period, when team captain Joe Pavelski re-directed a Brent Burns‘ shot from the blue line to sneak the puck past Kings’ goaltender Jonathan Quick, giving Pavelski his 35th goal of the season. The 35-year-old Lacavalier brought the game back to even about eight minutes later with his second goal of the game, and his 10th of the year. The second period finished with an even score, at a pair of goals for each squad.
The third period is where San Jose would pull ahead and stay ahead. It started at the four-and-a-half minute mark, when “Jumbo” Joe Thornton scored his 18th goal of the season, after Quick blocked Burns’ shot. The rebound put-back placed San Jose in the lead for the second, and what would turn out to be the ultimate time. Melker Karlsson added an insurance goal with just over three minutes to play in the game, scoring a goal that would go under review from the NHL’s situation room. In an entertaining rivalry game, maybe the most entertaining moment came from referee Wes McCauley, who gave a dramatic and emphatic “good goal” call.
McCauley should send that in as his audition tape for a hockey movie.
The Sharks weren’t finished, as Braun scored his second goal of the night, doubling his goal total for the season. With an empty net, Braun shot from near his own goal, and the puck glided over the ice before coming to a stop in the back of the Kings’ goal with 18 seconds remaining on the clock.. That gave San Jose their fifth goal, and sealed their 5-2 win over the Kings, the Shark’s third win over Los Angeles in five attempts.
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San Jose is currently seventh in the Western Conference with 90 points, trailing the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues, the co-first seeds with 99 points each. The Sharks have six games left to play on the season, including one with the team that inadvertently helped San Jose clinch a playoff spot, the Coyotes.