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Sharks score four goals on same power play, defeat Golden Knights

By Connor Grott

April 24 (UPI) -- The San Jose Sharks exploded for four goals on the same five-minute power play and rallied for a 5-4 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

The Golden Knights held a 3-0 lead in the third period after goals from William Karlsson, Cody Eakin and Max Pacioretty. Vegas appeared to have the game in control midway through the final frame, until a penalty occurred on a faceoff in San Jose's offensive zone.

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Eakin cross-checked Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in the chest with 10:47 remaining in the third. Golden Knights forward Paul Stastny then hit Pavelski as he fell, causing his helmet to slam on the ice. Pavelski was knocked out and bleeding after the sequence.

"You see our leader go down, he's out cold on the ice and it was kind of like he was seizuring up a little bit, so tough to see," Sharks forward Logan Couture told reporters Tuesday night.

The officials huddled and eventually assessed Eakin a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct. The Sharks then rallied behind their captain and scored four goals on the same power play.

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Couture scored two goals, Tomas Hertl added another and Kevin Labanc, who assisted on the first three scores, broke the 3-3 tie with a lightning wrist shot from the face-off circle. It marked only the second time a team scored four goals on one major power play in a Stanley Cup playoff game.

"He's the heart of this team, and to see him go down like that and suffer like that was heartbreaking for us," Sharks center Joe Thornton told reporters. "That power-play unit, it won us the game. The boys got together and said this is for Pavs. We love him. It was just a matter of will, and we willed that one for him."

Vegas sent the game into overtime after Jonathan Marchessault's score tied the game at 4-4 with under a minute left in the third. Fourth-liner Barclay Goodrow, on his second shift in overtime, sealed the victory with a shot past Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. He took a pass from Erik Karlsson and deked his way around Fleury for the game-winner.

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The Sharks became the second team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal deficit and win in the third period of a Game 7. The Boston Bruins achieved that feat in 2013 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

San Jose faces the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals. Game 1 of the series starts Friday night.

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