Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

Plover native Joe Pavelski and the San Jose Sharks beat the Vegas Golden Knights in double overtime Sunday, April 21, in Game 6 of their first round series in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, to even the series at 3-3 and force Game 7.

After falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, San Jose hosted Vegas in Game 5 Thursday, April 18, where the Sharks led 3-2 in the third period, when Pavelski assisted on a goal from Tomas Hertl at the 14:45 mark to give San Jose a 4-2 lead.

Pavelski added an empty-net goal with 1:46 remaining to cap the scoring on the Sharks’ 5-2 win, which sent San Jose to Las Vegas for Game 6 Sunday night.

Logan Couture scored with nine seconds to play in the first period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead, and Vegas had a goal at 11:20 of the second period to tie the game at 1-1, which it remained through the end of regulation and the first overtime.

In the second overtime, Hertl scored a short-handed goal at the 11:17 mark on an assist from Marc-Edouard Vlasic to give San Jose a 2-1 victory, which was the first time in NHL history that a multiple overtime game was decided by a short-handed goal.

Goalie Martin Jones set a franchise record with 58 saves in the win for San Jose, which will host Vegas in Game 7 at 9 p.m. Central Tuesday, April 23, in a game that will be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network. The winner will play the Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“That was our goal: win one game at home, get some rest, come in here and find a way to win in this building,” Pavelski told NHL.com. “We get it back to Game 7. Guys will be ready.

“We like being on home ice for Game 7, but there’s a lot of work, a lot of effort that will need to go into it,” he said. “It’s not over yet.”