Meier slides smoothly into Kane’s spot
LAS VEGAS >> Coach Pete DeBoer looked to an Evander Kane clone to take the place of the suspended forward on the Sharks’ top line for Game 2 of their secondround playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Timo Meier was alongside captain Joe Pavelski on the Sharks’ top line as the Sharks evened the series with the Golden Knights at one win apiece with a dramatic 4-3 victory in two overtimes.
Meier was one of the Sharks’ more involved players in their 7-0 loss to Vegas in Game 1. He had four shots, two takeaways and led San Jose with six hits. In five playoff games this year, Meier has a goal, two assists and 13 shots on goal.
Through 60 minutes of regulation time on Saturday, Meier had 17:28 of ice time, four shots on goal and three hits. He also assisted on Brent Burns’ second goal of Game 2 that gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at the 14:07 mark of the second period.
Meier has played up and down the lineup at various times this season. Most recently, he skated on the Sharks’ top line with Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi for two games in early April when Kane went out with an undisclosed injury.
“What I remember about moving Timo around was he can drive a line with his speed, with his physicality,” DeBoer said Saturday afternoon. “He’ll go in there and obviously that creates a hole somewhere else. But we played 85 percent of the season without Evander Kane and won a lot of games. So, we’re more than capable of getting through this.”
Meier had a goal and averaged just under just under 17 minutes of ice time per game as the Sharks lost to the Stars 4-2 and beat the Avalanche 4-2.
“It’s a lot fun playing with those two guys. They’re two great players,” Meier said before Saturday’s game of playing with Pavelski and Donskoi. “If I get the chance tonight, I’m going to try and do all I can to help the team win. It’s going to take everybody that’s dressed tonight to put in their best effort.”
Donskoi was moved off the top line in the second period, with Mikkel Boedker taking his place.
With his size and speed, Meier is the Sharks’ closest replica to Kane, who was suspended by the NHL on Friday for one game for crosschecking Golden Knights forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the face in the third period of Game 1.
Kane will return to the lineup Monday when the series shifts back to San Jose for Game 3. Game 4 is Wednesday, also in San Jose.
“He’s been a huge part of our team for sure. He’s been really good for us,” Meier said of Kane. “It doesn’t matter who’s going out. We need everybody that’s dressed to give their best effort. We have an experienced group. We have a lot of leaders in there and they’re going to make sure they’re ready tonight.”
Bellemare dressed for Saturday’s game and had 8:42 of ice time at the end of regulation time.
As of Saturday morning, Bellemare was considered questionable for Game 2, with coach Gerard Gallant saying he would consult with the Golden Knights’ medical staff before knowing whether Bellemare could play. Bellemare skated Saturday morning, wearing a full face shield.
• With Kane out and Meier on the top line, Marcus Sorensen started Saturday’s game on the third line with Chris Tierney and Kevin Labanc. Barclay Goodrow, in his first action since he was injured March 27 against St. Louis, started on the fourth line with Eric Fehr and Melker Karlsson.
• Dylan DeMelo appeared to suffer a knee injury off an illegal hit from Golden Knights forward William Carrier early in the second period of Game 2 on Saturday. DeMelo had released the puck in the neutral zone near the Golden Knights’ bench when Carrier came in with a knee-on-knee hit. DeMelo went to the Sharks dressing but returned in the second period.