Overtime work has no payoff
Goalie Martin Jones contends with the Oilers’ Patrick Maroon (19) as Sharks defenseman Paul Martin (7) clears the puck Thursday night. David Deharnais scored at 18:15 of OT to give Edmonton a 4-3 victory and 3-2 series lead.
EDMONTON, Alberta — David Desharnais scored late in the first overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Sharks on Thursday night, pushing San Jose to the brink of elimination in the NHL playoffs.
Desharnais, in the slot, one-timed a Leon Draisaitl cross-ice pass past Sharks goaltender Martin Jones to cap an overtime session dominated by Edmonton.
The Oilers lead the Western Conference quarterfinal series 3-2. Game 6 is Saturday night in San Jose.
The series winner takes on the Anaheim Ducks in the West semifinals.
Patrick Maroon, Mark Letestu, and Oscar Klefbom also scored for Edmonton. Mikkel Boedker, Patrick Marleau and David Schlemko had goals for San Jose.
The Oilers — looking for a bounce-back game after a 7-0 beat-down by the Sharks in Game 4 — dominated the first 10 minutes, energized by the deafening roar of the orange-and-blue-clad fans at Rogers Place.
Edmonton took a 1-0 lead at 5:28 of the first period when Maroon, standing at the edge of the crease, corralled a rebound off Matt Benning’s shot and swept the puck past Jones.
The Oilers also hit the post with three shots — two by Darnell Nurse and one by Jordan Eberle — before San Jose responded at the midway point of the period.
Marcus Sorensen slappassed the puck from the blue line to Chris Tierney, who redirected the puck through the top of the crease to Boedker. He then wristed the puck into an open net.
The Sharks made it 2-1 with just over four minutes to go in the period. Taking advantage of a bad Oilers line change, Joe Thornton and Marleau broke in over the blue line on a twoon-one. Thornton’s wrist shot leaked through Oilers goalie Cam Talbot and dribbled to the goal line, where Marleau stuffed it in.
The Sharks increased their lead to 3-1 just under nine minutes into the second period. A wrist shot by Schlemko from the blue line fluttered through a crowd in the crease and over Talbot’s right shoulder.
The Oilers cut their deficit to 3-2 on the power play with less than two minutes left in the second period, with Brent Burns in the penalty box for delay of game.
Draisaitl backhanded the puck through a clutch of bodies in the slot to Letestu for a one-timer under the crossbar.
The Sharks smothered the Oilers attack for most of the third period until Klefbom blasted a shot from the blue line to tie the game with less than three minutes to go.