Oilers are young, fresh

crowd. But the Sharks calmly and methodically neutralized all that excitement and took a 2-1 lead in the first and eventually a 3-1 lead in the second period.

But late in the game, young Edmonton had energy and freshness and the Sharks simply couldn’t match the Oilers.

The entire overtime period, which ended with David Desharnais’ goal, looked like an 18-minute Oilers power play. Edmonton controlled the puck. Dictated the action. Outshot the Sharks 14-2.

By the time the game ended, the outcome had long felt inevitable.

And it was a reminder of the way last season ended, with the younger, faster Penguins zipping around the Sharks, who simply couldn’t stop them.

That final series was the only one of the Sharks’ four playoff matchups last year in which they trailed three games to two entering Game 6. Despite winning a couple of games, the Sharks could never quite find their footing in that series, against a younger, more talented team.

And, aside from Tuesday night’s ridiculous 7-0 victory at SAP Center, which really didn’t tell us much, the Sharks have looked off-balance in this series as well.

The team’s historical record in Game 6s is not pretty. The Sharks’ all-time record is 6-17, including a 3-7 home mark.

Does that mean anything for Saturday night? No, except that it’s a sign that the longer a series go on, the harder it might be to win for a bangedup team that is showing its age.

Heading into this game, the Sharks can feel very good about a couple of things.

First, goalie Martin Jones was phenomenal in overtime, stopping the first 13 shots he faced. He was peppered by the Oilers and getting little help from his teammates: As soon as one flurry of shots was finished, another started. Coach Peter DeBoer had to call a timeout to give Jones a breather.

Can Jones do it again in San Jose? “Jones is only human,” Oilers center Mark Letestu said of the feeling his team would score in overtime.

Another thing the Sharks can feel good about is keeping wonder boy Connor McDavid statistically under control. The NHL’s regular-season points leader doesn’t have an evenstrength point in the series. Sharks defensemen MarcEdouard Vlasic and Justin Braun have contained the Oilers’ youngster.

Still, McDavid has been phenomenal, flying around the ice and making some crushing hits, like his open-ice connection with Marcus Sorensen.

The negative for the Sharks is that the Oilers are finding ways to beat them without McDavid scoring. And the talented 20-year-old must look to Sharks fans like a ticking device on the ice, ready to explode with offense at any moment.

DeBoer said he thinks the Sharks’ issues are less about age versus youth and more about mind-set during the game. The Sharks had a lead Thursday and were trying to protect it, while the Oilers trailed most of the game and had to attack. He said the Sharks had a hard time flipping the attack switch back on when the game headed to overtime.

Still, a younger team might find it easier to flip the switch and push hard after 60 minutes of regulation hockey.

The top three scorers on the Oilers are under 26. Many of the key players on the Sharks are over 30 — some closer to 40, the exceptions being Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture. Couture is dealing with a terrible mouth injury but was active on the ice Thursday. Joe Thornton is also banged up.

The longer the games go on, the more exposed the Sharks seem to be. The Sharks played until June 12 last year. They have collectively logged an enormous amount of ice time, miles, nicks and bruises in the past 19 months.

Former Sharks and current Oilers coach Todd McLellan thinks his young team learned a big lesson in the past two games. In Game 4, the Oilers learned about not starting well. In Game 5, they learned about resiliency.

“I’d like to think we’ve learned our lesson now,” McLellan said. “We’ve had a little bit of success again. But we have to take it to another level on Saturday.”

It’s hard to predict what will happen Saturday night. There’s no momentum from one playoff hockey game to the next; the action and impetus is freeflowing.

Age, on the other hand, is finite.