The end of the road
Sharks’ season ends with Game 6 loss to Vegas
SAN JOSE – Tomas Hertl’s facial expression said it all.
Moments after he was denied on a breakaway attempt – with a follow-up shot hitting the side of the Vegas Golden Knights’ net _ Hertl wore a look of disbelief. After hitting the cross-bar on a first period breakaway, what else did he and his Sharks’ teammates need to do in Game 6 to catch a break and get a puck past goalie Marc-andre Fleury?
It might be a question the Sharks – eliminated from the playoffs with a 3-0 loss to the expansion Golden Knights on Sunday – will ask for quite some time.
The Sharks applied enough pressure in the first two periods at SAP Center to give themselves a chance to extend their second round playoff series with the Golden Knights to a seventh and deciding game on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Instead, they hit two cross bars and saw other pucks drift just wide of the net. Brent Burns later hit the post on a shot from the point with just over six minutes to go in the third period.
Fleury, for his part, made 28 saves to record his second shutout of the series and his fourth of the playoffs.
Jonathan Marchessault and Nate Schmidt both scored second period goals for the Golden Knights, whose historic season continues with a date in the Western Conference Final against either Winnipeg or Nashville.
Goalie Martin Jones finished
SHARKS / 14
BOTTOM:
San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier (28) is checked by Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland (5) during Sunday’s game.