Sharks blank Knights, even West semifinal series
sured at SAP Center on Sunday.
“It was probably our most complete game of the series,” Jones said.
Pavelski put a cap on the evening with a power-play goal at 11:43 of the third period. He redirected a Logan Couture drive on the pad of Marc-Andre Fleury before depositing the rebound past the Golden Knights’ goalie.
“All four lines played really good,” Hertl said. “Everyone is scoring, not just one line. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone and played really well down there.”
The power play was 1-for-5, but San Jose’s penalty kill delivered. The Sharks denied Vegas on all five of its manadvantage chances after having allowed five power-play goals in the first three games of the series.
“Our penalty killing has been great all year,” Jones said. “Tonight we had some big kills that helped us win the game.”
San Jose was all over Vegas in the middle period, extending its lead to 3-0 when Hertl scored his team-leading fifth goal of the playoffs at 5:35.
Linemate Mikkel Boedker did the heavy lifting on the goal. He used his speed to circle wide behind the goal and threw the puck into the crease after coming back out front. Hertl fought through a couple of sticks to beat Fleury, who couldn’t locate the loose puck.
“The difference tonight was they were 0-for-5 on the power play and we stuck some goals in the net,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said. “The first 10 minutes, they were a little heavier on the puck and won more battles. When we upped our battle level and possessed the puck a little more, we took over the game.”
The Sharks scored two goals of the opening period, including a strike in the final six seconds.
Donskoi raced from his goal line through center and, once inside the Vegas zone, used Vegas’ Brayden McNabb as a screen. Donskoi wristed a shot between the legs of the Golden Knights’ defenseman and over Fleury’s glove with 5.7 seconds left for a 2-0 lead.
It was Donskoi’s second goal of the playoffs. He missed Monday’s overtime loss in Game 3 while nursing a lower-body injury that kept him out of the morning skate, too.
“It’s nice to see one get past Fleury,” Couture said. “It seems like he’s stopping everything he’s seeing.”
San Jose broke a scoreless tie when the fourth line delivered. Sorensen skated from the right corner through the slot and lifted his fourth goal of the postseason over the right pad of a prone Fleury at 15:37.
“He’s feeling it right now,” fourth-line center Eric Fehr said of Sorensen. “He’s making good moves, making good decisions with the puck. With that speed, it’s got to be hard to cover him.”
The attention now turns to Friday when the Sharks return to Las Vegas, where they split the first two games of the series.
“We’ll try to carry this over to the next game,” Jones said. “It’s going to be tough. We just have to make sure we have the same mind-set as this game.”
Briefly: Rookie defenseman Joakim Ryan replaced Paul Martin in the Sharks’ lineup. Ryan played for the first time since Feb. 16. … After much conjecture about his status, Sharks center Joe Thornton, recovering from a right knee injury, remained out, along with Joel Ward, Barclay Goodrow and Jannik Hansen.