San Jose Sharks goalie Vesa Toskala played a big role in allowing the Sharks to walk away with at least one point in tonight’s shootout loss against the Edmonton Oilers. The 3-2 win increased the gap between the two teams for the final spot in the playoffs. The Oilers now have a seven-point lead.
“[They] are in eight place in the standings,” said Toskala. “But a point is better than no point,”
Toskala kept the Sharks in the game by making several big stops, especially in the second period.
After a goal by Oilers’ forward Ryan Smyth was disallowed because of high-sticking, Toskala made a stellar glove save while on his back, robbing Smyth of another goal midway through the period.
Immediately after the Sharks killed a two-man advantage, Toskala stopped the puck a second time; once again on his back. Oilers center Marty Reasoner kept jabbing at the loose puck, but Toskala managed to stop him.
“You can’t blame him on the two goals,” said Wilson. “They weren’t his fault. We were a little passive for some reason in the first period and they took advantage.”
The Sharks started off the game flat on their feet and weren’t able to connect their passes. They returned to their original form by not performing well in the first period.
“It was looking for a while like the way the game started that we weren’t going to get anything,” Wilson said. “But once we battled back, it’s hard to keep your foot on the gas without risking anything and I think in the future we’ve got to keep on pushing. When we tied it, we kind of sat back for a few shifts and let them catch their breath and then we had a couple of more pushes again but we should have smelled blood at that point and tried to finish them off.”
The Oilers connected twice in the first giving them a 2-0 lead into the locker room. The first goal came from Shawn Horcoff who put in his 15th of the season with 11:39 remaining. After Oilers’ defenseman Chris Pronger took a wrist shot off the point, Horcoff managed to put in the rebound.
Off a delayed penalty call, Oilers’ defenseman Steve Staios deked pass Mark Smith and loaded a hard slapshot. Sharks’ goalie Vesa Toskala couldn’t stop the shot as it went top shelf with 10:56 remaining in the first period.
The Sharks came alive early in the second period by hacking away some chances on Oilers’ goalie Mike Morrison. One finally found the back of the net 4:17 into the period. Joe Thornton managed to slide in a wrist shot for his 16th goal of the season. Sharks’ forward Jonathan Cheechoo got the assist by sneaking in a pass behind a net that got deflected towards Thornton. Cheechoo kept his scoring-streak alive with a career high 10-game point streak including nine goals and seven assists.
The same line created more opportunities during the period. Nils Ekman almost tied the game up when his shot rimmed off the post. Cheechoo and Thornton had some quality chances but were also stopped by Morrison.
Milan Michalek tied the game up midway through the third period on a power forward move. After being fed a nice pass from Cheechoo from the blue line, Michalek tucked it in nicely past Morrison for his 8th goal of the season
Despite his strong performance throughout the game, Toskala gave up two goals in the shootout contest against Michael Peca and Smyth. Morrison couldn’t stop Ekman, but robbed Thornton and Patrick Marleau to give the Oilers the win.
“I still think the two points was crucial,” said Sharks defenseman Kyle McClaren. “We had our chances to capitalize to get the extra point. We have to start finding ways to win these games in shootout and overtime and start making some ground. We have to find ways to scratch and claw to get the two points.”
The Sharks will travel down south and face-off against division rival Los Angeles Kings. The game will be televised this Saturday on NBC at 3 p.m.
