Sharks Clinch Playoff Berth
2018.10.23 – SAN JOSE – Monday night’s game between the Sharks and Kings merited the phrase “feels like a playoff game”! Joe Thornton scored a tie-breaking power-play goal early in the third period to help send the San Jose Sharks back to the playoffs with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Playoff hockey is back in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Sharks with its raucous crowd of 17,066 at SAP Center send a loud message that they’ll be ready to face the best in hockey, if they happen to meet in the playoffs next month.
Earlier this month the Sharks let the East Coast know they were ready for elite teams, as they had already netted home victories in March over the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. Last night they beat the top team on the west the LA Kings.
The Sharks ended their three-game regulation losing streak, and although they still face tough odds to make up the five-point deficit that still exists between them and Los Angeles, Monday’s effort was great from top to bottom with the postseason so close at hand.
“I think, appropriately, we clinched a playoff spot with a game like that against a team like that,” Pete DeBoer said. “That’s kind of been the story all year – we wanted to prove we belonged in that category of team. We feel we do. It was a solid effort, goalie [on] out, and it was nice to win that game.”
Just 11 seconds after Jeff Carter was given a hooking penalty for bringing down Joonas Donskoi, the Sharks’ No. 1 power play unit came through as San Jose took the lead for good.
It took a Brent Burns one-timer on net, Joe Pavelski’s backhand shot went off Kings goalie Jonathan Quick’s pad and right to Thornton, who scored his 18th of the season for a 3-2 Sharks lead.
The Sharks goalie Martin Jones finished with 30 saves, including eight in the third period as the Sharks ended their home stand with a 3-3 record.
Logan Couture said: “We played well. Obviously getting into the playoffs was a goal that we set from the start. To beat those guys to get in was nice.”
The play that will likely get the most airtime came at the end of the second period. With the score tied 2-2 and time winding down, Couture was in prime position to give the Sharks a lead headed into the intermission. His shot at an open net, though, was somehow stopped by Jonathan Quick, who got the paddle of his stick on the attempt before it rang off the crossbar.
It was surely one of the NHL’s best saves of the year. “Just a good save. I thought I had him,” Couture said.
Justin Braun saved a goal with just under 12 minutes left. After the puck trickled behind Jones following a Drew Doughty shot on net, Braun stopped Anze Kopitar from scoring as he tied up Kopitar’s stick near the goal line and the puck went off the post and out.
“I just saw it sitting there,” Braun said. “Just try and get there before they do. Thankfully it hit the post and went out instead of in. Bailed Jones out a bit, but he’s bailed us out a lot.”
Melker Karlsson gave the Sharks an insurance goal with 3:19 remaining, as he followed up a shot by Tommy Wingels for his 10th of the season. San Jose won the season series with Los Angeles with a 3-1-1 record.
“We’re as deep as anybody,” Thornton said, “and as far as I’m concerned we can play with anybody, too.”
It might sound like a cliché, but I believe the San Jose Sharks and the entire Bay Area hockey fans are ready for some good playoff hockey.
Read more at: San Jose Sharks Media Services / More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
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