The San Jose Sharks had their first home shootout of the season at SAP Center and made quick work of the Edmonton Oilers. Joe Pavelski and rookie Joonas Donskoi scored in the tiebreaker to give the Sharks a 2-1 win against the Oilers, spoiling ex-Sharks coach Todd McLellan's homecoming. Pavelski started the shootout by beating Cam Talbot between the pads, and Donskoi scored after a forehand deke in the second round. Martin Jones stopped Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the tiebreaker to give the Sharks their fourth consecutive win. The Sharks improved to 2-0 overall in shootouts this season and played 3-on-3 overtime at home for the first time. They beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in a shootout on Oct. 16 at Prudential Center.
Donskoi, a native of Finland who signed with the Sharks this season as a free agent, gained a reputation for his skill in the shootout while playing in Europe. He beat Talbot with one of his go-to moves. Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored a first-period goal and Jones made 24 saves through overtime for the Sharks.
Nail Yakupov, who returned to the lineup after missing 22 games with a sprained ankle, scored in the second period and Talbot made 36 saves for the Oilers. The Sharks won back-to-back home games for the first time this season and continued building momentum. They improved to 7-0-0 at home when scoring first. Each team had chances in the extra period.
With 3:39 left in overtime, Vlasic fired a shot from the right circle on a rush, but Talbot caught the puck. Jones snared Teddy Purcell's shot from the low slot with 1:58 remaining. Talbot made another save on a Vlasic blast with just over a minute left in OT. Andrej Sekera had a shot from point-blank range with 37.6 seconds left, but Jones made a blocker save. Brent Burns took a pass from Patrick Marleau in the crease and flipped the puck past Talbot, but it crossed the goal line an instant after time expired.
McLellan faced San Jose for the second time overall and first at SAP Center since parting ways with the Sharks after last season, his seventh with the team. McLellan, the winningest coach in franchise history, received a nice ovation from fans during a break in play at 9:01 of the first period when he appeared briefly on the video board. The Oilers defeated San Jose 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 9 at Rexall Place.
Vlasic gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 11:29 of the first period with his fifth goal of the season, beating Talbot with a wrist shot from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush. Joe Thornton ignited the rush with a long pass to Melker Karlsson, who sent a cross-ice pass to Vlasic. Thornton, who had the secondary assist, has a point in 12 of his past 13 games.
Edmonton pulled even when Yakupov scored his third goal of the season at 8:02 of the second period. Yakupov took a cross ice pass from Lauri Korpikoski in the left circle and ripped a wrist shot past Jones for his first goal since Oct. 18.
The Sharks outshot Edmonton 15-7 in the second period but couldn't get the puck past Talbot. Logan Couture had seven shots on goal in the period, tying a team record. He finished the game with 11. The Sharks are 5-2-0 since Couture returned from thigh surgery.
Zack Kassian made his Oilers debut, one day after being called up Bakersfield of the American Hockey League. He finished with one shot on goal, four hits and two takeaways. The Oilers waived Rob Klinkhammer and sent Brad Hunt to Bakersfield, opening roster spots for Kassian and Yakupov. The Sharks stay home and host the Dallas Stars on Saturday, the same night the Oilers are home for a game against the Calgary Flames.
Sharks Bites
Peter DeBoer: "It's been a long time. I can't believe we're halfway through the season and it's the first time we've had one (at home). ... But it was nice. We had two great moves and two big saves by Jonesy."DeBoer described Donskoi as something of a shootout secret weapon.
"I think maybe the best in Europe or one of the best in Europe last year. The thing he has going for him is they don't really have a book on him over here for the most part. There's so much pre-scouting done now on the shootout that I'm sure they wouldn't have anything on him."Joe Pavelski: "He's got a few of them, so they can't just be prepared for that one. It's a situation we know he's fairly strong with. It's good to see him score."
Marc-Edouard Vlasic: "It's important to put a couple wins together. Now we've got four in a row. We're climbing in the standings. You want to keep it going."
Martin Jones: "Those are fun games to play in, the tight ones. Those are fun situations to play and it helps when you come out on top there."
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