San Jose Sharks Lose 5-4 In Back and Forth Affair
The San Jose Sharks fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets by the final score of 5-4 in a back and forth affair at the SAP Center on Thursday night.
It was a rare home game this early in the season for the San Jose Sharks. Twice they held leads, but twice they lost them.
They jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Adam Burish and Joe Pavelski, the latter of which was scored on the power play which continues to do very well. Burish’s goal meanwhile was not of the ordinary variety as he took the puck from his own blue line, skated up the left wing, then fired a snapshot on net which beat Sergei Bobrovsky.
Things changed rapidly though and in the second period the Blue Jackets scored three times.
Ryan Johansen scored a pair while Mark Letestu scored a short-handed goal on a two-on-one odd-man rush. Johansen’s second goal came as a result of an awful turnover by newcomer Tye McGinn who had full control of the puck and lost it in the zone while he and the rest of the team were breaking out of the zone.
In the third period the San Jose Sharks would come back with two more goals to retake the lead and make it 4-3.
Pavelski picked up his second of the night and fourth of the season on a wrister with plenty of bodies in front of the Columbus goaltender just two minutes into the period to tie it. Logan Couture‘s goal to retake the lead was thanks to him intercepting a pass from a Columbus defenseman, and he quickly fired the shot on net.
But, San Jose was unable to hold the lead and relinquished it once more, this time for good.
The Blue Jackets tied the game up at 4-4 on a Nick Foligno goal from point-blank range. He benefited from a great heads up play by Scott Hartnell who kicked the puck to Foligno while he (Hartnell) was being checked to the ice.
With just over a minute to play Johansen scored what looked to be the third goal to complete his hat-trick, however the goal was called off due to incidental goaltender contact. His teammate was in the crease jostling for position with a couple of Sharks players and it was deemed he interfered with Antti Niemi‘s ability to stop the puck. Whether the latter part of that is true is hard to say, but that was the call.
It didn’t matter though, as the Blue Jackets scored less than a minute later with just 21 seconds remaining in regulation. You could almost feel the goal coming as Columbus was swarming in the San Jose end. Letestu picked up his second goal of the night as he deflected a Hartnell shot from the point to beat Niemi for the fifth time.
A rough loss for the San Jose Sharks who at times looked to be in full control of the game. However, their inability to finish games off strong is starting to become a concern and is definitely something which needs to be addressed.
GGS 3 Stars
1. Ryan Johansen, CBJ (2 goals)
2. Joe Pavelski, SJS (2 goals)
3. Mark Letestu, CBJ (2 goals)