Edmonton Oilers hold off San Jose Sharks in shootout 3-2 -NHL
Edmonton Oilers were the underdogs going into Tuesday night’s matchup against San Jose but the rookie filled team managed to edge the Sharks, 3-2, in a shootout decider at the sold-out HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
Luckily for San Jose, they lost out of regulation and thus, were awarded a single point, bringing them back into number eight.
Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche also won their respective contests and are both now tied with San Jose Sharks for the final playoff spot with 74 points.
This is San Jose’s third straight loss ever since the month of March kicked off, something which just might haunt them in the final days of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season as teams fight to secure a postseason position.
"Our mettle's being tested, there's no doubt about it," said Sharks coach, Todd McLellan. "We've been tested for a month now, since we've been on the road trip and it didn't go the way we wanted it to. We had some real stinkers. We had some good games we
played in and didn't win. ... We'll dig out of it and eventually find a way. You've got to really work your way through this before you're going to win. I think we're getting close and we've got to keep going."
Jordan Eberle grabbed the first goal of the night for his 30th of the year just 10 seconds into the contest. Jim Vandermeer answered with his first of the regular season at 3:17.
Ryane Clowe took the lead with his tie-breaking goal with less than five minutes to go in round two but veteran Edmonton forward, Ryan Smyth, was right there to tie it at 16:13.
A scoreless third period and overtime extension resulted in the match being decided in only one way, a shootout. Edmonton’s Sam Gagner gave them the win as he capitalised on their second opportunity while San Jose failed on all three.
Devan Dubnyk could be credited with the win as he blocked 28 of 30 in regulation along with three crucial attempts in the shootout.
Edmonton Oilers will go on to face Montreal Canadiens at home on Thursday while San Jose Sharks kick off their four-game road trip against Dallas Stars the same day.
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