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THE SCORE OF THE BOX
It was supposed to be a quick match and round trip on Tuesday night between the Sharks and the Nashville Predators. And damn it, it did not disappoint.
San Jose traded opportunities with Preds, leaders of the Western Conference, all night, and even overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period to tie the game late. Sharks fans were then rewarded with Erik Karlsson's Brent Burns feed they had been waiting for since the start of the season, while San Jose won 5-4.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday's instant classic.
The score was perfect for everyone
In their previous two inclinations, the Sharks have managed to gain ground on their opponents and create some margin of safety. It was another story, however, when they faced Nashville on Tuesday night. The exchange of chances entertained the match from start to finish and showed the Sharks team the fuel to get back from a deficit against a tough team.
The Sharks quickly scored on the board with a goal from Timo Meier's rebound on the powerplay. But Viktor Arvidsson capitalized on a breakaway and buried the equalizer before the end of the first period. Nashville added 21 seconds into the second stanza when Filip Forsberg recovered a loose bounce and dropped it to give the Predators ahead.
In the second frame, Meier broke a coin in the Sharks' area and got the puck for Logan Couture. No. 39 pleased Tomas Hertl, who beat Saros to tie the game 2-2. Then Arvidsson scored again after catching a net behind Forsberg's net to give Nashville a 3-2 lead.
The half-back came in the final minutes of the second period, when Barclay Goodrow whistled a penalty kill attempt, and Nashville brought the puck back to allow Craig Smith to drop the fourth goal of the Predators. In the evening.
All seemed lost to the Sharks, until Brendan Dillon went from one goal to the other to score the shorthanded goal. Joe Pavelski then followed in equalizing 4-4. The winner of the Burns game was the icing on the cake.
The defense played a role … for better or for worse
The Sharks and Predators have two of the most discussed blue lines in the NHL. While both have incredible moments, both leave their feet – or skates, if you want to be difficult – with gasoline at different times.
The San Jose defense seemed solid at the start of the match, with some reversals allowing the Nashville frontline to capitalize and recover from the back of the net. Nashville's defense also fell back on its heels in the third period, allowing Dillon to skate and score.
Penalty troubles are almost back to haunt the Sharks
It's not that the late match penalty against the Sharks in the third period made a lot of sense. Nevertheless, San Jose has given too many opportunities to Nashville in Nashville.
Although the Predators' power play has not been spectacular, this is an area the Sharks need to clean up during the season. And it's certainly something they have to tighten up as the three-game journey continues. Their next opponents in the coming games are not necessarily power play specialists – the Hurricanes are somewhere down the league for this special team category – but it's still a part of the Sharks game that they probably want to clean up.
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