SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The traditional handshake line at center ice was finished. Some fans at SAP Center stood and cheered. Others remained silent, staying near their seats as the San Jose Sharks remained on the ice for several more moments and saluted them for the final time this season.
A year that began with aspirations of returning to the Stanley Cup Final ended in heartbreaking fashion Saturday at SAP Center, as the Sharks were eliminated from the playoffs with a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of their opening round playoff series.
Patrick Marleau, who, along with Joe Thornton, might have been playing his final game as a member of the Sharks at home, scored with 7:48 to go in the third period to cut the Oilers' lead to one. But the Sharks could get no closer, even though a Joe Pavelski attempt from in close went off the cross bar and the post before it bounced out of harms way.
Trailing the best-of-seven series 3-2, the Sharks needed a win to send the series to a seventh and deciding game in Edmonton on Monday. The Oilers advance to face the Anaheim Ducks in the second round.
The Oilers struck twice just 56 seconds apart in the second period, with both goals coming on breakaways.
Justin Braun had a shot attempt blocked by Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom. The puck then came to Adam Larsson, who fed a streaking Leon Draisailt in the neutral zone. Fighting off a check from Braun, Draisaitl got a shot off and found the five-hole on Sharks goalie Martin Jones just 54 seconds into the second period.
The Oilers made it 2-0 at the 1:50 mark of the second.
With the Sharks inside the Edmonton zone, Paul Martin couldn't handle an off-target pass from Chris Tierney back to the Oilers' blue line. Anton Slepyshev pounced on the loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in all alone on Jones and scored low blocker side for his first point of the series.
As the second period progressed, the Sharks pushed hard to get at least one of those goals back. But goalie Cam Talbot, looking as confident as he has all series, turned aside 12 Sharks shots in the second period to keep the Oilers ahead by two goals.
The Sharks were unable to convert on their one power play chance of the first 40 minutes, as Drake Caggiula was sent off for slashing Jannik Hansen at the 16:47 mark of the second period.
The Sharks managed two shots on goal with the man advantage, but couldn't convert. When the penalty to Caggiula expired, the Sharks dropped to 5 for 23 on the power play for the series, with four of those goals coming in Game 4, a 7-0 San Jose rout.
Mikkel Boedker was hurt late in the power play, as he caught a deflected puck to the face and skated under his own power to the Sharks' dressing room.
The push resumed early in the third period, but the Sharks could not catch a break.
Jannik Hansen's backhand shot after a nice pass from Tierney drifted wide. A few second later, Hansen fed Joel Ward near the slot, but Ward's shot hit the post.
The game was scoreless through the first 20 minutes, although it wasn't really the start the Sharks were looking for in an elimination game. The Oilers held a 9-6 edge in shots on goal and 22-8 advantage in shot attempts.
The Sharks' best scoring chance of the first period came as they were killing a hooking penalty to Joel Ward. Logan Couture created a turnover in the Oilers zone and fed Melker Karlsson, whose shot from just outside the crease was stopped by Talbot.
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer opted to mix up his lines a bit after Thursday's overtime, inserting Joonas Donskoi back into the lineup after he was a scratch for Game 5.
Donskoi started the game on the second line with Couture and Karlsson, and the third line of Hansen, Tomas Hertl and Boedker _ which enjoyed some success toward the end of the regular season _ was put back together.
"It's different. There's no hiding from that," DeBoer said Saturday morning of the team's approach going into Game 6. "You lose you go home. But we've been here before. This is a team that played (24) playoff games last year and three elimination games.
"We've been here before. We know how to handle it and I think we're confident we're going to show up with a real good game here tonight."
The Sharks did a lot of the things they set out to do before the start of the series.
Through five games, they held the Oilers to nine goals, with seven coming at even strength. Jones entered Saturday with a .939 save percentage.
Connor McDavid, who led the league this season with 100 points, did not have a point at even strength through the first five games.
But the Oilers were also doing an admirable job of slowing down the Sharks' top scorers.
Brent Burns led the Sharks this season with 76 points, but was held without a point in four of the first five games. Pavelski had four points in the first five games, but three of them came in Game 4.
