Leading the Ottawa Senators 3-2 with five minutes left in the third, the San Jose Sharks appeared to be heading towards a sixth consecutive victory...then poof it was gone.
Zack Smith was awarded a penalty shot with 5:31 left when he stole the puck from the beard, blew by the beard and was taken out out by the beard. Smith converted on the subsequent penalty shot to force overtime and then ultimately to the shootout.
Mika Zibanejad scored the only goal in the shootout to lead the Sens to a 4-3 road win and blah blah blah.
Unlike some of my other blogs I am just going to rant for a bit and let you guys respond.
It was a heck of a play by Smith to force Brent Burns to do the only thing he could to prevent a goal, but how many of you...and be honest....actually thought Smith's penalty shot goal was legal?
Never mind that it was challenged, reviewed and upheld. I'm asking for your personal opinions.
In my opinion, Smith clearly stopped his and the puck's forward progress as he stick handled. To me this means both Smith and the puck lost their continuous forward motion toward the net, thus deeming the penalty shot null and void.
Take a look here...
Anyway, I thought it was worth discussing.
Bottom line is San Jose played a decent game coming back from a two-goal deficit and managing to salvage at least a point at home. They keep pace in the Pacific by tying the Arizona Coyotes with 49 points for second.
What's next?
The Sharks travel to Arizona to face those same Coyotes on Thursday before heading back to NorCal for three straight.
Let me know what you think of the penalty shot and thanks for reading, Steve