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Sloppy Sharks steal a point at home + more |
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Joe Pavelski's Heroics saved the San Jose Sharks (34-18-6) from themselves.
Trailing 5-3 in the waning moments of the third period, Pavelski put on his star-spangled cape and scored twice in the final 3:21 to tie the game at 5-5. It was the second time in the game the Sharks rallied from a two-goal Florida Panthers lead (Fla led 3-1 early in the first period).
The comeback was nice, but it was never meant to be.
Jonathan Huberdeau delivered the final blow in overtime to lift the Panthers (25-20-10) a 6-5 win at SAP Center.
It was the fitting end to a game the Sharks didn't deserve to win. Heck, they didn't deserve the loser point either.
San Jose outshot the Panthers 36-22 and carried a heavy edge in offensive zone play. But the Sharks were victimized by their own carelessness within their own defensive end. Four of the Panthers’ six goals were a direct result of sloppy giveaways inside the San Jose blueline.
There were countless instances throughout the game in which the Sharks stopped skating or pursuing the puck handler. Several of Florida's goals were reminiscent of a pick-up hockey game, where one team is not even pretending to play defense. Brendan Dillon and Marc-Edouard Vlasic I'm looking at you.
Good news is that to a man the Sharks acknowledged it was a poor effort and spoke of improving moving forward. You know what? I believe them.
What else you may have missed....
- Martin Jones allowed six goals on 22 shots and allowed three goals on the Panthers’ first four shots.
- Pavelski scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season. It's the 8th time in 11 seasons he's scored at least 20 goals.
- Brent Burns had a goal and an assist to give him 61 points for the season. He' having a career year and deserves all the accolades coming his way.
- Patrick Marleau was honored before the game for his scoring 500 goals. It was a really nice moment for Mr. San Joe Shark.
- It was also Marleau's 600th consecutive game. He ranks 3rd on the NHL’s current ironman list.
- The game featured three of the top 5 active NHL points leaders - Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton and Marleau.
- Speaking of Jagr, the 45-year-old birthday boy earned his 1,900th career point with an assist in the third period. That's a lot of points.
- Dillon and Vlasic were both minus-2 in the game. It looked much, much worse than that.
- Sharks are 13-9-7-3 all-time vs. FLA.
Parting shots....
- The Sharks were among more than a dozen teams with scouts in attendance at the Toronto/Detroit game.
thanks for reading,
Steve
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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