Sharks fall to Predators 4-3 in a 3-overtime thriller.
San Jose squanders chances in extra periods as series tied at 2
SAN JOSE — The secondlongest game in Sharks franchise history ended with 8:48 left in the third overtime, as Mike Fisher scored off a rebound to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 victory in Game 4 to even the secondround playoff series at two wins each before a delirious sellout crowd at Bridgestone Arena.
With the Sharks unable to clear the zone, goalie Martin Jones stopped a shot from the point by Mattias Ekholm but couldn’t corral the rebound. Fisher emerged from the corner, got the loose puck and scored his second of the game.
Each team had 42 shots on goal through three periods and
two overtimes, as Jones finished with 41 saves and Predators goalie Pekka Rinne had 44 saves.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns had two goals in regulation time and had 41:44 of ice time through the five 20-minute periods. Defenseman Shea Weber had 45:16 of ice time to lead the Predators.
The Sharks were looking to push Nashville to the brink of elimination, but now have lost two in a row.
Instead, in addition to Game 5 on Saturday at SAP Center, Game 6 will be back in Nashville on Monday.
The game was the Sharks’ second to reach overtime this season, as Thursday’s extra session saw two reviews of potential Sharks goals and one post hit by the Predators’ Ryan Johansen.
Thursday’s game was the second-longest in Sharks franchise history, behind only a quadruple-overtime game against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the 2008 conference semifinals.
The Sharks had a chance on the power play with 12:01 left in the overtime, but came up empty after Shea Weber was called for interference on Chris Tierney.
The Sharks thought they had the winner with 12:26 to go in overtime.
On a rush, Joe Thornton passed across the ice to Tomas Hertl. His shot was stopped by Rinne, but the rebound came to Pavelski. He gloved the puck down as he was knocked to the ice by Miikka Salomaki, with it going off Rinne’s pad. As the puck trickled toward the goal line, Pavelski tapped it across the line with his stick.
It was ruled on the ice, though, that Pavelski made incidental contact with Rinne and his ability to make the save before the puck crossed the goal line. The call was upheld by video review.
Joel Ward nearly ended it roughly four minutes into the extra session, as his wraparound attempt went through the crease. The loose puck came to Joonas Donskoi, who couldn’t get a good shot sway before the puck was frozen.
Just after the Sharks’ chance, Ryan Johansen got a chance from in close but hit the post with 15:09 left in overtime. The Sharks also killed a delay-of-game penalty to Marc-Edouard Vlasic 9:02 into overtime.
The Sharks outshot the Predators 11-4 in the second overtime, with perhaps their best chance to score coming with 3:49 left. Joe Thornton fed Tomas Hertl with a cross-ice pass, but Hertl, in all alone, hit Rinne’s blocker with the point-blank shot.
The Predators challenged the goal, arguing that earlier in the sequence, Ward was offside. But replay determined that Ward did, indeed, tag up before Martin crossed he blue line after he had sent the puck into the Predators zone.
The period was a big response from the Sharks, who didn’t show a ton of poise in the opening 20 minutes.
The Predators scored twice on 10 shots in the first period, including a goal 41 seconds into the game by Colin Wilson, who collected a loose puck at the side of the Sharks net after a blast from the point by Mattias Ekholm and scored his fourth of the playoffs.
Burns responded 3:08 into the first period, as his shot from a sharp angle along the wall just outside the circle beat Rinne to the short side.
Nashville took a 2-1 lead with 10:10 left in the first. After Jones stopped a Neal shot from near the faceoff dot, Fisher, with no one defending him, picked up the loose puck and scored his third of the postseason.
Nashville won 47 of 77 faceoffs through OT.