Sharks get a teeth into Vegas Golden Knights
Bruins ward off the Lightning for a 6-2 victory
Logan Couture scored his second goal 5:13 into double overtime to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 win over the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in game two of their NHL play-off series.
Couture beat Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot just inside the post to the upper part of the net as the Sharks levelled the best-of-seven Western Conference series at 1-1.
The series now switches to San Jose for game three on Monday night.
Brett Burns scored the first Sharks’ goal two minutes into the second period, which snapped Fleury’s marathon scoreless streak that included back-to-back shutouts. Fleury came into Saturday’s game with a superb .982 save percentage in the playoffs.
The Sharks lost game one on Thursday 7-0, matching their largest margin of defeat in the postseason in franchise history.
“We were better (game one) everywhere,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer.
Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault appeared have won it for the Golden Knights late in the first overtime but the goal was overturned after the video review officials determined Marchessault bumped Jones’ stick as he skated by the crease.
Elsewhere, Boston’s top scoring trio combined for 11 points and Tuukka Rask stopped 34 shots despite an equipment malfunction as the Boston Bruins kicked off their second round series with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rick Nash also scored twice for the Bruins to help complement the explosive line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand that carried the offence. Marchand had a goal and three assists, Pastrnak tallied four assists, and Bergeron delivered two goals and an assist as the Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the best of seven Eastern Conference series.