The San Jose Sharks were back on the ice tonight for the second half of a back-to-back. Emotions ran high against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, as the Sharks picked up a thrilling last minute win. Against the Toronto Maple Leafs though, the Sharks were almost certainly looking to earn a more convincing victory.
The Sharks brought great energy right out of the gate, and just 3:27 into the game, Zack Ostapchuk kept the fourth line’s strong play going by giving the Sharks an early 1-0 lead with his fourth goal of the season. Dmitry Orlov picked up an assist on the goal, making it four straight games with an assist for the Russian defenseman.
Ostapchuk nearly added his second of the night just over 12 minutes into the game when he got a breakaway after Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo tried to step up from the blue line. Ostapchuk seemingly had Anthony Stolarz beat, but he hit the goalpost.
With 2:17 remaining in the first, Collin Graf beat Stolarz with a high shot to his blocker side, giving the Sharks a 2-0 lead and Graf his 20th goal of the season.
Just under two minutes into the second period, William Eklund scored his 13th of the season when the puck bounced off the endboards and rebounded off of Stolarz’s leg and in. Eklund had been snakebitten as of late, and this goal meant a lot for his game, as he ended a ten-game goal drought.
With 14:25 remaining in the period, the Sharks took the first penalty of the night when Michael Misa was called for interference when he took Steven Lorentz down in the defensive zone.
The Sharks quickly got a couple of odd-man rushes, with Barclay Goodrow getting denied twice, first by a diving defender and then by Stolarz. Moments after the second rush, John Tavares scored at the other end of the ice, making it a 3-1 game.
Dakota Joshua gave the Sharks their first power play of the night shortly after the goal, when he got his stick tied up in Sam Dickinson’s legs and hauled the young Sharks defenseman down to the ice. Nothing came of it, though, and the Sharks maintained their 3-1 lead through the end of the period.
A couple of minutes into the third period, Graf drew a penalty and sent Joshua back to the box for tripping.
The Sharks nearly restored their two-goal lead shortly after the penalty expired, but Eklund was denied on the goal-line twice, and Misa also had a shot ring off the post in the middle of the chaos. The biggest save came from Simon Benoit, who laid himself out in the crease to help his netminder.
Adam Gaudette scored his 17th goal of the season on an empty net to put the game away with less than a minute to go. As a result, the Sharks walked away with a 4-1 lead and moved into the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, pending the result of the Los Angeles Kings' game against the Nashville Predators.