An unexpected power outage didn’t stop the San Jose Sharks from picking up a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Center on Thursday night.
Last time the two teams faced each other, San Jose beat Columbus 3-2 at Nationwide Arena on October 15th. It wasn’t a pretty win, but the Sharks took the two points anyway.
“Good, sloppy road win. We’ll take it,” head coach Peter DeBoer said.
The Sharks expected better results this time against the Blue Jackets.
Team Teal didn’t report any injuries. However, Dylan DeMelo and Matt Nieto were scratched from tonight’s game.
Paul Martin went to the penalty box for hooking at 1:02 of the first period. The Blue Jackets received their first power play of the night, but were unable to capitalize on the man advantage.
The Sharks went on their first power play of the night after Markus Nutivaara was given a two-minute penalty for holding at 8:40.
Sergei Bobrovsky tried to prevent a faceoff dot shot from Joonas Donskoi, but the puck went into the net on the power play, and the Sharks took a 1-0 lead at 12:59.
Despite being outshot 13-10 by the Blue Jackets, the Sharks maintained an edge in 5-on-5 possession and led 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The Sharks picked up the pace to even the shots on goal 13-13 at 4:22 of the second period.
Brent Burns received a pass from the left circle and tried to shoot the puck into the net at 12:16 but a huge save by Bobrovsky prevented him from netting a potential goal.
The Sharks were dominant for most of the second, outshooting the Blue Jackets, 21-17, and held onto a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Brendon Dillon appeared to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead early in the third period, but Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella called for a review of the play because he thought the Sharks were offsides. After further review, the referees confirmed the play was offsides and goal was disallowed.
It didn’t take long for the Sharks to strike back. They received their second power play of the night after Jack Johnson was called for tripping at 10:39. Tomas Hertl picked up Marc Edouard-Vlasic’s rebound off Bobrovsky and tapped it into the net to make it 2-0 Sharks.
Columbus ended Martin Jones’ shutout bid with just 2:50 remaining when Scott Hartnell followed a rebound and put it in the back of the net to cut the deficit in half. San Jose’s lead was reduced to 2-1.
Hertl grabbed the puck off a turnover then threw it into the empty net to put the Sharks ahead 3-1 with less than a second left in regulation.
The Sharks beat the Blue Jackets 3-1 in an interesting rematch.
San Jose got strong goaltending from Jones who made 24 saves for the Sharks whereas Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for Blue Jackets.
Joel Ward couldn’t help himself from making jokes. “The lights?” Ward asked, drawing laughter from the media. “It wasn’t a big deal and I don’t think it affected any of us tonight.”
This wasn’t the first time Peter DeBoer has coached a game with a power outage.
“You coach junior hockey in Canada for 15 years, you see your share of power outages,” DeBoer said.
Up Next
The Sharks return to action Saturday night when they host the Nashville Predators at SAP Center. Game time at 7:30 p.m. PST.
