San Jose Sharks

Sharks blow the lead, the game and the series too?
April 21, 2017, 6:25 PM ET [17 Comments]
Steve Palumbo
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If this playoff season has shown us anything, it's that no two-goal lead is safe. The San Jose Sharks found that out the hard way on Thursday night.

San Jose, coming off that 7-0 romp in game 4, jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the second period at Rogers Place. The orange looked crushed. The Sharks seemed destined to head back to San Jose up 3-2 in the series.

Edmonton turned on the jets and began carpert bombing the Sharks nets. Wave after wave. Rush after rush. Jones did his best to keep his team ahead and he almost pulled it out. Unfortunately a late goal in the second and a dagger in the third wrote San Jose's death warrant in overtime.

David Desharnais became the latest playoff hero when he scored at 18:15 of overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win over the Sharks in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round on Thursday.

The Oilers lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 with Game 6 in San Jose on Saturday. It feels like it's going to be the last game of the San Jose season.

The San Jose Sharks had game five in their collective hands. Martin Jones was having himself another excellent game and that defense was still 'that defense. Then suddenly and inexplicably the white and teal went into the dreaded 'defensive shell.' The Sharks stopped pressing the puck and quickly became prey to a hungry group of Oilers' forwards.

Overtime wasn't even competitive.

The Oilers blitzed the San Jose zone and the Sharks simply had no answer. Jones was the only reason the game was not over sooner. He made a couple really unbelievable saves like the sliding stop of Connor McDavid on a 2-on-1. Edmonton finished the OT with 14 shots to SJ's two. Jones made 44 total stops before Desharnais ended it.

I spent most of the OT period cringing, wincing and hiding my face. Each shot felt like an old bandaid being ripped off. If you missed the game you missed the agony of waiting for the inevitable. If it sounds like I'm being dramatic - I am. That's how bad it was.

San Jose blew their best chance to own this series. They had the Oilers by the throat and showed uncharacteristic weakness. The Oilers rose like a Phoenix from the ashes and have all but buried the Sharks.

The fifth game of a 2-2 series in the most important. The winner of game 5 wins the series 78% of the time. The only saving grace for the Sharks is the comfort of their own bed with game 6 at the Tank. I doubt it will matter though.

This playoff season is shaping up to be the rise of the newbies and San Jose doesn't seem to fit in to the Hockey God's plans this time around.

Throughout last years run, the Sharks did not rattle easily. They don't appear to have the same swagger this time around. That end of the season slump and those nagging injuries have to be factoring in somehow.

It's not over yet. Someone still needs four wins and these are unchartered waters for the young Oilers. The Sharks have their work cut out for them. Pete Deboer has pushed the right buttons before, but I doubt there is a button to fix old and slow.

Saturday can't come soon enough.