OT loss could prove more costly
The Sharks overcame an early 3-0 deficit to earn a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to Winnipeg, but at what cost?
San Jose’s Joe Thornton hobbled off at the end of regulation with an apparent rightknee injury (at least not to his surgically repaired left knee), and fellow forward Tomas Hertl was tossed from the game early for a boarding major that could come under further scrutiny by the people who decide on suspensions.
Both developments overshadowed San Jose earning a big point in the standings as four different skaters scored and Aaron Dell competed to the point of improving to 100-2 in his past 12 starts.
Still, Bryan Little’s second goal of the game just 18 seconds into sudden death left a sour taste in the Sharks’ mouth.
“They scored some easy goals,” San Jose forward Logan Couture said. “We made some mistakes in the neutral zone, made mistakes giving up 2-on-1s and 3-on-2s and standing at the blue line when we shouldn’t. OT (was) loose coverage, open-net (goal). Lots to work on defensively.”
The Sharks appeared primed to finish off the comeback in winning fashion, especially after Timo Meier tied the game 4-4 with his 11th goal of the season at 15:20 of the third period. But it unraveled late with an untimely injury to Thornton.
Thornton’s right knee buckled under the weight of his own body when he fell awkwardly in front of the San Jose bench over teammate Mikkel Boedker, who was having a physical battle while skating through the neutral zone with Winnipeg’s Andrew Copp.
Thornton put his stick parallel to the ice to leverage his way to his feet, but immediately headed down the runway to the team’s dressing room, and was unavailable postgame.
“We have a much better chance with him in the lineup, definitely,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “If he’s going to miss a little bit of time, someone’s going to have to step up and get the job done.
“Jumbo’s been playing great, making a lot of good quality plays, so we want him in the lineup. But that’s the way it goes right now. We don’t really know what’s going on.”
The team’s leader with 36 points moved three assists shy of catching Mario Lemieux, 11th on the all-time list, with the primary helper on Chris Tierney’s career-high 12th goal — a power-play strike at 13:25 of the second to cap the threegoal comeback.
Momentum from Pavelski’s late first-period tally carried over to the second when the Sharks outshot Winnipeg 15-11.
Couture drew San Jose to one goal down with a great individual effort he capped with his team-leading 18th goal. Couture tried to make a cross-ice pass on a rush, fanned, but managed to spin out of an attempted check by Winnipeg defenseman Marko Dano to nail the short side with a low shot at 9:38.
Tierney one-timed his career-high 12th goal from the right circle past Connor Hellebuyck following a pinpoint cross-ice from Thornton. The power-play goal capped the comeback from the 3-0 deficit.
San Jose got off to an atrocious start, allowing goals on the first two shots by Winnipeg, and losing forward Hertl before midperiod on a game misconduct that accompanied a major penalty for boarding Jets defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who did not return after slamming against the end boards.