The San Jose Sharks (43-27-7) not only fell to the Edmonton Oilers (43-25-9) on the scoreboard, but also in the Pacific Division standings on Thursday night when the Oilers defeated the boys in teal 3-2. Edmonton and San Jose entered the game tied in the Pacific Division standings at 93 points, but the Oilers now have sole possession of second place, and are just one point behind the Anaheim Ducks for the division lead.

Just 1:01 into the game, Jannik Hansen beat Oilers’ goalie Cam Talbot to put the Sharks ahead 1-0. It was Hansen’s second goal as a member of the Sharks with his other goal 1:44 into Tuesday’s victory over the Rangers.

1:01 into the game tonight. 1:44 into the game on Tuesday.

Hansen likes scoring early, huh? #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/44v8vzFuis

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 31, 2017

San Jose looked absolutely terrific in the first 10 minutes of the first period, as they outshot Edmonton 12-3. However, with 9:38 left in the period Patrick Maroon scored for Edmonton to tie the game at 1-1. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl picked up the assists on the game tying goal.

With 5:33 remaining in the first frame, Brenden Dillon picked up a delay of game penalty, giving the Oilers the first man-advantage opportunity of the game. The Sharks were able to kill off the Oilers’ power play, and when Dillon came out of the box he immediately received the puck on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Vlasic was hooked from behind on the odd-man rush and the Sharks were given a power play.

The Sharks did not look good on the power play, as Drake Caggiula hit the goal post on a shorthanded opportunity. Unfortunately, the Sharks were not out of the danger zone as moments later McDavid got the puck and attacked the net at full speed and beat Martin Jones to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.

Edmonton outshot the Sharks 9-1 in the second half of the first period, to trim the overall shot advantage to 13-11 after the first 20 minutes.

San Jose started off the second period strong, and even forced Edmonton into picking up their second minor penalty of the game when Anton Slepyshev was called for cross checking.

Mid-way through the power play, Talbot was attempting to play the puck behind the net and Hansen came in and lifted the goalie’s stick and Edmonton defender Adam Larsson didn’t enjoy Hansen’s efforts as he came at Hansen fists flying and the two dropped gloves. The two players picked up fighting majors, keeping San Jose on the power play for the remaining 57 seconds of the Slepyshev minor. Edmonton killed off the remainder of the penalty however.

With 11:45 left in the middle frame, Melker Karlsson was called for holding the stick, giving Edmonton another power play. Jones didn’t even have to face a shot on the penalty kill, as the Sharks were able to keep the score at 2-1. The Sharks dominated the majority of the middle part of the period, but Joe Thornton picked up the team’s third penalty of the evening, for slashing, with 5:24 left on the clock. Similar to the other power plays, Edmonton was unable to score, dropping to 0-for-3 for the game.

San Jose outshot Edmonton 14-6 in the frame, but the score stayed at 2-1 in favor of the Oilers.

The third period began with a decent amount of action on both ends of the ice, but the goalie’s stood pat with each shot attempt they faced until Maroon scored his second goal of the evening for the Oilers 7:51 into the final period. It was his 27th goal of the season.

When all it looked like all hope was lost, Marc-Edouard Vlasic put a shot toward the stick of Joe Pavelski, who tipped it past Talbot to cut the Oilers’ lead in half to 3-2 with 6:01 remaining.

Unreal hand/eye coordination by @jpav8 pic.twitter.com/UsHlzgkWH8

— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) March 31, 2017

The Sharks pulled the goalie with 1:48 remaining, and had a couple shot attempts to knot the score up, but Talbot saved both San Jose shots to win the game for Edmonton.

San Jose outshot Edmonton 40-22, but the numbers that really matter are goals and the Oilers were able to best the Sharks on Thursday night.

Notes

• The Sharks dropped to an overall record of 1-21-1 when they entered the third period trailing their opponent.
• Jannik Hansen picked up a Gordy Howe hat trick with the goal in the first period, the fight in the second period and the assist on the Pavelski goal in the third period.
• San Jose fell into third place in the Pacific Division with the loss. They are now only three points ahead of the Calgary Flames, who currently are a Wild Card playoff team.
• Logan Couture (mouth) will not join the Sharks on their three-game road trip./

Fear the Fin Three Stars:

1. Patrick Maroon
2. Cam Talbot
3. Connor McDavid