San Jose defends home ice, takes 3-2 series lead
SAN JOSE >> Tomas Hertl scored his first two goals of the second round and Martin Jones turned in another stellar performance to help give the Sharks a come-frombehind 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of their series at SAP Center on Saturday.
Jones finished with 21 saves, including seven in a frantic third period, as the Sharks moved to within one win of advancing to the Western Conference finals for the fifth time in their history. Game 6 is Monday at Pepsi Center in Denver.
Tyson Jost scored for Colorado, which received a 37-save performance from goalie Philipp Grubauer, two days after he had a 32-save shutout in Game 4.
Hertl gave the Sharks the lead for good at the 6:26 mark of the third period. Grubauer stopped
a shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic, but the puck trickled at the skates of Hertl, who got inside position and tapped in the loose puck.
Soon after, as the Sharks were about to start a power play, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski came out from underneath the stands, waving a towel and sending the sold-out SAP Center crowd into delirium.
The Sharks put 28 shots on goal before they finally beat Grubauer.
With 20 seconds left in the second period and 46 seconds after Tyson Barrie was whistled for interference on Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl’s redirected a Logan Couture shot past Grubauer to tie the game 1-1. The power play was the Sharks’ first since the third period of Game 2, as they entered Saturday with just one goal in 11 tries on the man advantage this series.
Colorado opened the scoring at the 17:01 mark of the second period, right after the Sharks had killed two consecutive penalties.
J.T. Compher put a shot on goal that Jones saved with his right pad. Brent Burns tried to clear the rebound, but the puck bounced off Jost and into the Sharks net.
Both teams had chances in the opening 20 minutes as the Sharks outshot the Avalanche 12-6 in the first period.
The Sharks thought that they had taken a 1-0 lead at the 7:04 mark of the first period.
Joe Thornton sped into the Avalanche zone and fed Kevin Labanc, who fired a shot from the high slot that beat Grubauer glove side. But referee Tim Peel, trailing the play, already had his arm raised to call a penalty on Timo Meier for high-sticking Mikko Rantanen, and the goal was disallowed.
A brief officials time out confirmed that Peel’s arm was raised before the puck cross the goal line.
Joonas Donskoi played Saturday night after a five-game absence, but captain Joe Pavelski remained out of
the lineup for Game 5 of the Sharks’ second round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center.
Donskoi, who had been out with an undisclosed injury, said Saturday morning that he was available to play. Coach Pete DeBoer said at the time the decision to put Donskoi in the lineup will be made just before the game. The series was tied 2-2.
“It’s been day to day,” Donskoi said. “(Friday) I started to feel really good.”
The insertion of Donskoi, who hasn’t played since Game 6 of the Sharks’ series against the Vegas Golden Knights on April 21, meant Lukas Radil came out of the lineup. Radil had played five straight playoff
games with Donskoi out.
Donskoi took over Radil’s spot on the Sharks’ third line with Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane.
Micheal Haley remained in the lineup and started Saturday’s game on the fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and Melker Karlsson.
DeBoer said Pavelski, injured April 23, has been skating on a more regular basis this week but that he is not ready to rejoin the lineup. Pavelski’s first day on the ice after the injury was Wednesday and he skated again late Saturday morning after the Sharks finished their optional practice.
“Getting better. Starting to skate regular,” DeBoer said of Pavelski.