Sharks come back to beat Preds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The game lived up to the hype.

Two Stanley Cup favorites, the Sharks (5-3-1) and the Nashville Predators (7-2), slugging it out for 60 minutes in a see-saw game decided in the late stages of the third period.

With the likes of Erik Karlsson, P.K. Subban and Brent Burns on the ice, Brenden Dillon scored the pivotal goal, going endto-end on the penalty kill, triggering flashbacks of another No. 4 – Bobby Orr – as he jumpstarted the Sharks come-from-behind victory.

Here’s what we learned in the Sharks 5-4 win over the Nashville Predators in Music City Tuesday night:

Marc-edouard Vlasic spelled out in blunt terms what the NHL learned as the Sharks snapped the Predators five game winning streak: “We’re one of the favorites.”

Though his team controlled play throughout its first eight games, head coach Pete Deboer called Tuesday’s showdown with the Predators a “big test” after the squad’s morning practice. The Sharks lead the NHL in Corsi percentage and rank second in shot differential, but even Deboer acknowledged Tuesday morning that they’d racked up those numbers without facing a truly-dangerous opponent.

A matchup with the Predators gave the Sharks an opportunity to see how they stack up against another team that’s four lines and six defensemen deep. They passed with top grades, earning just their second win in 11 trips to Nashville.

For the ninth time in nine games, the Sharks outshot their opponent, holding a 32-29 edge. Three of the team’s four lines came out on the positive side of the possession ledger. Most importantly, Martin Jones put together another quality game, making several big saves that didn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.

He gave up four goals, all of them the product of miscues in front of him. Victor Arvidsson scored the Predators first goal after the puck hopped over Vlasic’s stick at the blue line. Filip Forsberg took advantage of soft-defensive coverage on a faceoff play for the second goal. Tomas Hertl turned the puck over at the blue line on Arvidsson’s second of the game and Erik Karlsson got caught cheating on a Sharks rush leading to Craig Smith goal in the dying seconds of the middle period.

But unlike the Sharks road trip to New York earlier this month, the power play bailed the team out against the Predators instead of holding it back.

Deboer continued to play Burns and Karlsson on separate units Tuesday, but both of the Sharks power play goals Sharks defenseman Brent Burns concentrates on a face off thinking about what his next move will be. Burns extended his point streak to six games on Tuesday in Nashville.

came while they were on the ice together. Timo Meier scored the opening goal in front after Burns and Karlsson created space by zipping the puck around the ozone. Burns recorded the winning goal with 2:52 left in the third off a pass from Karlsson.

With three points, Burns extended his point streak to

six games. His goal pushed the Sharks winning streak to three games, reminding the hockey world why so many pundits picked them as Stanley Cup favorites back in training camp.

“It was a great test,” Meier said. “They’re one of the top teams, no doubt about that. We know we’re up there, too.”