San Jose has 2 goals disallowed, falls 2-0 to Florida
The Florida Panthers rode goalie Roberto Luongo’s 35 saves and two goals overturned by video review into a 2-0 win over the Sharks on Thursday night at SAP Center.
Luongo recorded his 74th career shutout and first of the season as the Panthers won for the third time in four games. San Jose lost for only the second time in eight outings.
“You score a couple of goals that get taken away just from close calls, which is going to happen,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “Unfortunately, two happened in the same game.”
Nick Bjugstad capped a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play with his fourth goal of the season at 12:23 of the third period to give Florida a two-goal edge. Sharks rookie defenseman Tim Heed turned the puck over to Radim Vrbata, who fed Jamie McGinn deep in the San Jose end. The ex-Shark made a perfect behind-the-back pass to an unmarked Bjugstad, who beat goalie Martin Jones.
The Sharks thought they tied the game early in the third, but for the second time in two periods, had it overturned by video review.
“You can feel the momentum as they go in the net,” Pavelski said. “But, regardless, we need to be better.”
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and forward Joonas Donskoi were ruled to have interfered with Luongo, who was struggling to freeze a puck shot by Kevin Labanc 1:58 into San Jose’s second power play of the game.
Vlasic and Donskoi shoved their sticks into Luongo’s right pad and spun the goalie into the net and the puck across the goal line at 5:16. Ruled a good goal on the ice, the officials took the score off the scoreboard after a lengthy review.
“They got the video,” Pavelski said. “I don’t know.”
Florida scored exactly one minute into the middle session for the only goal of the first two periods.
Colton Sceviour won a fight for the puck along the end boards from Sharks rookie defenseman Joakim Ryan and punched in his third goal of the season on a second-try stuff shot to the right of Jones.
San Jose thought it tied the game at 4:37, but Joe Thornton’s feed to a locked and loaded Heed bled barely over the blue line before the defenseman slapped a shot from 60 feet and one inch past Luongo. The call on the ice was overturned after Florida coach (and ex-Sharks assistant) Bob Boughner asked for a video review.
The first period offered little in terms of a clue about which team would win this one. The Sharks outshot the Panthers 10-9 in a penalty-free opening 20 minutes. San Jose had the better of zone time, but Florida had the best offensive chance.
Bjugstad split Sharks defensemen Brent Burns and Ryan to break in alone on Jones, who deflected a rising shot with his left glove out of play with 33.6 seconds left in the period.
“It wasn’t enough of an effort from anybody besides Jones, who made some big saves,” Sharks forward Tomas Hertl said. “We have to play better. We have to start fast in our building. They have to feel the heat from us.”