Controversy follows the San Jose Sharks wherever they travel.
This time it was to St Louis in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final.
Erik Karlsson scored twice including OT game-winner – file photo by Jack Lima
Erik Karlsson scored the game-winner, his second goal of the game, for the Sharks in overtime to give San Jose a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Blues.
The final play will be remembered as the “Timo Meier to Gustav Nyquist hand pass”. Without video review, the play stood and Nyquist passed to Karlsson who lifted the puck into the net for the winner.
“I didn’t really see it,” Karlsson said when asked if he saw a hand pass by Meier. “I thought [Gustav] got it right in front of the net there, and I just kept myself available.”
This will be the stuff of legend.
“Did it appear (to be a hand pass)? It was, but let’s move forward, and that’s what we’ll try to do here in the next 24 hours,” forward David Perron said. “We’re a really good team in here.”
Twice, in regulation, the Sharks held two-goal leads (2-0 and 3-1) and the Blues rallied each time.
St Louis scored four times in the middle frame to erase both deficits and went to the second intermission with a 4-3 lead.
Martin Jones, who looked soft in the second period, made 28 saves for the win; he was at his best in the game in the third period and the overtime session
Perron scored twice in the middle frame and Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored in the period.
“Yeah, I thought we had a good third period, exactly the way we’re supposed to play, and they find a way to get one with the goalie pulled,” Perron said. “It’s a tough bounce, and it’s 2-1 right now. We’re going to have to go to bed tonight and come back here with a smile on our face and make some adjustments that we can make and keep playing our game.”
Joe Thornton had two goals for the Sharks.
Logan Couture forced overtime with late goal – file photo by Jack Lima
“We stuck with it today,” Karlsson said. “They battled a little bit harder than we did, we didn’t really have it. I think we had a good first period and then we kind of stepped off the gas a bit.”
Logan Couture forced the extra time when he scored with 61 seconds left on the clock to make it 4-4.
“I was happy that they kept icing the puck,” Couture said. “I was a little tired, I had been out there for 30 minutes. [Alex] Pietrangelo kept icing it, gave me some time to catch my breath. I think a couple of us were tired, so we were happy that he kept icing it. [Joe Thornton] made a good play on the wall, kind of a battle, their guy threw it at the net, we were able to outnumber him. The puck came loose a little bit, and I think I got my stick on it before [Jordan] Binnington could cover it.”
[WATCH: All Sharks vs. Blues highlights | Complete series coverage]
Jordan Binnington made 27 saves in the loss.
“Well, it’s difficult to lose in overtime and [the Stanley Cup] Playoffs anytime. We’ve got to move on and get ready for Game 4,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “Really, that’s all you can do. We played a solid hockey game, but we’re on the losing end of it and there’s nothing we can do about what happened. We just have to move on.”
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