Sharks come alive too late, now face elimination

LAS VEGAS – A stirring Sharks comeback in the third period Friday created a few tense moments for the frenzied, sold-out crowd inside T-mobile Arena.

But the first half of Game 5, when the Sharks reverted back to some bad habits against the Vegas Golden Knights,was too much to overcome.

Now they’ve got less than 48 hours to get everything corrected if they want to keep their season alive.

Goalie Martin Jones made 27 saves through two-plus periods but Alex Tuch scored twice and James Neal and Erik Haula each added one as the Golden Knights earned a 5-3 win to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, pushing the Sharks to the brink of elimination.

Kevin Labanc, Tomas Hertl and Mikkel Boedker all scored in the third period, with Hertl’s goal at the 11:44 mark of the third cutting Vegas’ lead to 4-2. Boedker then added an even strength goal with 4:16 to go in regulation to narrow the lead to one.

Jonathan Marchessault, though, scored an empty net goal with 1:21 left in the third that ended any comeback hopes.

The type of pressure the Sharks had been able to create over the previous three games, when they combined for 123 shots on goal, mostly disappeared in the first two periods when the Sharks only lightly tested Vegas goalie Marcandre Fleury, who finished with 27 saves.