By Daniel Reedy:
It was the response the San Jose Sharks were looking for tonight.
After going scoreless in back-to-back games, San Jose unloaded on Edmonton, shutting out the Oilers 7-0.
“We got on the board and got things rolling,” said Pete Deboer postgame on Joe Pavelski’s goal. “It’s an important piece to get that momentum. We weren’t able to do it last game, but we did it early tonight.”
Pavelski scored 15 seconds into the game, redirecting a shot from Justin Braun for what would be the game-winning goal.
San Jose entered the contest with one goal in its last 14 man-advantage opportunities, but went 4 for 8 Tuesday night with power-play goals from Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, David Schlemko and Pavelski — the captain’s second goal of the game.
Couture, last year’s playoff points leader, also scored twice sniping two top-shelf goals despite dealing with a jaw injury.
Markus Sorensen scored his first playoff goal to put the Sharks up 4-0 in the second period.
Brent Burns rebounded from his uninspiring Game 3 performance for a 3-assist night with 5 shots on goal.
The Sharks were locked down by the Oilers in the last two games as Edmonton’s defense tightened and remained unprovoked by San Jose’s short passes from the corners. Tonight however, the Oilers gave the rejuvenated Sharks plenty of space and San Jose made them pay, setting up several clear shots on net.
San Jose served up Cam Talbot, tagging the Edmonton netminder for 5 goals before he was pulled in the middle of the second period. The pressure continued as Talbot’s replacement Laurent Brossoit gave up 2 goals on just 8 shots in his first playoff appearance.
Martin Jones only faced 23 shots but made every save for his fourth career playoff shutout.
Connor McDavid was shut down again, obviously going pointless, and has gone back-to-back games without a point and has yet to score in the series.
Edmonton forward Patrick Maroon put 4 shots on target but was one of six Oilers to go to the box.
Fellow forward Leon Draisaitl “speared” Chris Tierney (hit him in the groin with his stick) and was promptly penalized with a five-minute penalty and 10-minute misconduct. It is unknown whether or not Draisaitl will be suspended for the incident. The Oilers finished with 27 penalty minutes.
The Sharks will look to carry the offensive success into Game 5 at 7:30 in Edmonton.