Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

Down 3-0 with 10:47 left in the third period of Game 7 when Plover native Joe Pavelski was knocked out of the game with an injury, the San Jose Sharks capped a furious rally with an overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Tuesday, April 23.

Following a hit on Pavelski that drew a five-minute major penalty, San Jose scored four goals in a span of 4:01 to take a 4-3 lead, before Vegas scored a goal with 47 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 4-4 and force overtime.

There, Barclay Goodrow scored with 1:41 to play to give the Sharks a 5-4 overtime win to rally from a 3-1 series deficit and advance to the second round of the NHL Playoffs to play the Colorado Avalanche.

After falling behind 3-1 in the series, San Jose had back-to-back wins Thursday, April 18, and Sunday, April 21, to even the series at 3-3 and force Game 7 in San Jose Tuesday night.

Vegas scored at the 10:10 mark of the first period to take a 1-0 lead, and then added a goal at 10:00 of the second period to go up 2-0.

It stayed that way until the third period, when Vegas scored 3:36 into the period to increase its lead to 3-0.

Following a face-off with 10:47 to play in regulation, Pavelski was knocked to the ice on a crosscheck and landed on his head, as he left the game and Vegas was called for a five-minute major that sparked the Sharks’ rally.

Logan Couture scored seven seconds later to bring San Jose within 3-1, and Tomas Hertl followed with a power-play goal 1:09 after that to make it 3-2.

Couture scored another power-play goal with 7:07 to play in regulation to tie the game at 3-3, and Kevin Labanc struck with a power-play goal 28 seconds later to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead with 6:39 to play.

Vegas came back and scored with 47 seconds to play in regulation to tie the game at 4-4, which it remained until late in overtime, when Goodrow’s goal sent San Jose to the second round of the playoffs with the 5-4 overtime victory.

The schedule for the San Jose and Colorado series has yet to be determined, while the winner of the best-of-seven series will advance to the Western Conference Finals to take on either the Dallas Stars or the St. Louis Blues.