Waived Off Last-Second Goal Denies San Jose Sharks of OT
The San Jose Sharks fell to the Vancouver Canucks by the final score of 3-2 at the SAP Center on Thursday.
A last second goal by Joe Thornton, which was originally called a goal, was waived off after review. That goal prevented this game from going into overtime.
Antti Niemi also started his fifth consecutive game, and by this point he has all but solidified himself as the starter moving forward. How long that lasts is anyone’s guess, but for now he is the main guy in net.
This evening we got to see Tyler Kennedy for the first time this season. He would finish with an assist on the first goal of the game
Kenndy’s assist ultimately set up James Sheppard who scored his second goal of the season on a tip in. Kennedy kept the puck on the blue line and found an open Tomas Hertl in the slot. Hertl then cruised wide of the net and fired a hard pass onto the stick of Sheppard who redirected the puck past Ryan Miller.
Later in the period the Vancouver Canucks tied it when Radim Vrbata scored unassisted on a two-on-one. He picked the corner against Niemi while using his teammate as a decoy and afterwards it was a 1-1 game.
In the second period Logan Couture scored on the power play to regain the lead for the San Jose Sharks. The top power play unit worked hard to gain possession of the puck after losing the draw and eventually Patrick Marleau grabbed it on the wall near the blue line. He fed a wide open Joe Pavelski in the high slot who quickly fired a hard pass off the stick of Logan Couture in front of the net for the second goal of the game.
Once again though the Canucks showed some resolve and tied the game up with a power play goal of their own by Alexander Edler. Vancouver followed that up with a third goal by Nick Bonino with less than three minutes left in the period to take the lead.
Overall the San Jose Sharks outshot Vancouver 36-19 including a 14-7 difference in the third period. That third period also showcased a power play opportunity that the Sharks failed to take advantage of.
After the four day layoff the Sharks will have to get this loss past them as they now head out to Dallas to face the Stars to start a seven game road trip along the central and southern U.S. It will be another good early test for the team.