San Jose's second longest road trip of the season could not have gone any better. The Sharks put together six wins on the road, culminating in a 5-3 comeback victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Sunday evening. Three goals in seven minutes of the third period gave the Sharks a 4-3 lead with over two minutes left to play, nicely capping off a hard working road trip.
NHL scores 2015: Sharks finish perfect 6-game road trip with comeback in Columbus
A fitting finish to a long trip for San Jose.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Stringing together six games in a row is quite a feat, but to do it on the road is something. Less than 24 hours after their 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, it seemed as if San Jose would falter in their final act. They got ahead of the Blue Jackets on a Patrick Marleau goal with three and a half minutes in the first, but three straight Blue Jacket goals almost derailed their streak.
It took three different goal scorers for San Jose to get the win, but they were helped in part by complacency on the Blue Jackets part. The curse of the two goal lead struck again, with Columbus sitting back too much on a lethal San Jose team. Once the door was open just a crack for the Sharks, they blew it open within moments. A pivotal hooking penalty on Dalton Prout gave the Sharks a power play down a goal and seven seconds into the man advantage Brent Burns one timed a Joel Ward pass to tie the game.
By then, it was only a matter of time that San Jose would take the lead on Brenden Dillon's first of the season. There was nothing Blue Jacket netminder Sergei Bobrovsky could do on Joe Pavelski's 3-2 goal that started the comeback, as the puck was deflected by the captain, or Bruns' power play tally. The final goal on Dillon was definitely one the Columbus netminder would want back, but the entire team is at fault for letting up on the gas in the third.
San Jose must sadly return home after a wildly successful road trip, but the six-game streak has them now in first place in the Pacific Division. Sunday afternoon's loss by the Los Angeles Kings ensured San Jose a chance to climb over them with at least a point, and the two gained in the comeback win has the Sharks leading their division in a way they could never have imagined coming into this past week and a half.
Could Ward have envisioned a 6-0 road trip? "No. It was pretty impressive. I’ve never been part of that, even in video games." #SJSharks
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzCSN) November 23, 2015 Scores
Carolina Hurricanes 4, Los Angeles Kings 3
San Jose Sharks 5, Columbus Blue Jackets 3
3 things we learned
1. Alec Martinez helped the Canes to a win
He didn't do it purposefully of course, but Alec Martinez fell into some bad luck on what eventually would be the game winner for Carolina. A shot from Justin Faulk at the point rebounded right next to goaltender Jonathan Quick. Martinez tried to scoop the puck away, but it was bouncing so much that it hopped over his stick and hit his skate, causing it to deflect into the net. Bad break for the Kings, but a fortunate sequence of events for the Hurricanes, who broke a four-game losing streak with the win.
2. Brendan Gallagher scored too little too late
The Habs might have had an easier time handling the Islanders if Gallagher had just a second more to pot this puck at the end of the first period. The pass that banked off the end boards came right to Gallagher, but not in time as the clock winded down just as the ricochet came back off the board. Though clearly out of position, the Islanders were saved by the buzzer and managed to preserve their lead until the next period.
Gallagher was just a bit too late... pic.twitter.com/D6pxfkeEmP
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 23, 2015 3. New Jersey penalty kill continues surge
The New Jersey Devils managed to hold the Vancouver Canucks off the scoresheet on the power play six times, only allowing a goal at the last possible second of the game. The Devils PK has been rising over the last few games, letting in two goals on the extra man advantage over their previous five games. New Jersey is 10th in the league on the PK at 83.3 percent and is above the league average. The Devils have surprised so far this year and their PK is a big part of their success.
Impact Moment
The Islanders were moments away from forcing overtime, until a late penalty cost them the game. Alex Galchenyuk's tally five seconds into the man advantage was the game winner for the Habs after New York couldn't keep themselves out of the box in the last few minutes of the game.
Stat of the Night
The Carolina Hurricanes are currently the second-best 5v5 possession team in the league and have a low PDO. LAK didn’t lose to a bad team.
— THX BUD (@thxbud) November 22, 2015 Carolina is good this year and everything is upside down.
Post to Post
See More:
