In what very well could be the last time we see Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton in teal The Sharks returned home to the friendly confines of the SAP Center and went down 1-2 to the Oilers of Edmonton with their backs up against the wall. The fog that fell on the Sharks in the final 40 minutes of the contest in Edmonton on Thursday night followed them into game six.
Martin Jones continued playing lights out as he had all series and did everything he could to give his club the edge in net. The Sharks issue in the games in which they lost has been taking the foot off the gas — or not putting their foot down in the first place — and yielding shot attempts to passes to the perimeter and dumps into the zone. The Sharks totaled 51 shot attempts in game five to Edmonton’s 99. Before you jump down my throat, keep in mind that is total shot attempts and not shots on goal.
The first period came and went without so much as a whisper from either squad. Chris Tierney and Melker Karlsson nearly linked up for a short handed goal on the most notable scoring opportunity of the opening frame. As far as following the shooting blue print to victory, the Sharks fell short on the shot clock, trailing Edmonton 6-9. However, they did dominate in the faceoff circle, 10-2 — another facet that lacked dearly in the final forty minutes in Edmonton.
A minute into the second period the Oilers broke the scoring seal and once again scored first… and second. Two massive defensive lapses saw Leon Draisaitle and Anton Slepyshev each put two goals behind Martin Jones on easy breakaway goals. Patrick Marleau had a small one-on-none opportunity of his own that Cam Talbot was able to get just enough of to keep the Sharks off the board.
The Sharks finally grabbed a power play opportunity near the end of the second but couldn’t capitalize on a handful of scoring chances, and ultimately San Jose entered the final 20 minutes down 0-2 and facing elimination from the 2016-17 season.
The Oilers came into the third period looking much like the Sharks came into the third in game five. Playing a lot of prevent defense and sitting on their heels waiting for the clock to strike zero. 12 minutes into period the Sharks finally broke through with a Patrick Marleau goal that cut the deficit in half and instilled some much needed life into The Tank.
Mr. Shark with the big third period goal!! #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/J1EEntR6Hx
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 23, 2017
Two minutes later in a bid to tie the game Joe Pavelski found nothing but crossbar — the fourth time the Sharks found pipe in the game — and just missed tying the contest.
This close to drawing even. #SJSharks #KeepItGoing pic.twitter.com/70Vsfk9FWa
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 23, 2017
In the end the Sharks just couldn’t overcome the fatigue of the season and the myriad of injuries to their top players. Thornton, Couture, Vlasic, and others weren’t playing at 100% and it showed up on the score sheet in this series. The defense and Martin Jones did everything they could to keep San Jose alive but too many times, the offense suffered from lengthy shot droughts.
The Sharks head to the offseason with many questions to answer, namely the futures of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Will Doug Wilson bring back the aging stars or cut bait and get younger for the next campaign? Will the Sharks lose any key pieces to the incoming rival, Vegas Black Knights? Only time will tell Sharks fans, and I will leave you with a positive thought that will always remain a constant: At least we don’t have to live in Edmonton.
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