SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The team that was believed to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender up until a few weeks ago re-emerged Tuesday at the biggest juncture of the season.
In their most complete team performance in over a month, the Sharks laid a 7-0 beating on the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center in Game 4 to even their best-of-seven first round playoff series at two wins each.
The Sharks' power play and its top offensive threats, after being all but silenced for the first three games of the series, led the way.
Logan Couture, with a partial set of teeth held together by wires and plastic coating, scored his first two goals since a deflected puck caught him in the mouth on March 25.
Joe Pavelski, with just one goal in his last 14 games, assisted on Couture's first goal and also scored twice, including one just 15 seconds into the first period to set a team record for the fastest goal to start a playoff game.
Brent Burns, the Norris Trophy favorite, broke through with three assists. All of his points came with the Sharks on the power play, which came alive after going 1 for 14 through the first three games of the series and finally made the Oilers pay for repeated trips to the penalty box.
Goalie Martin Jones, which has led the Sharks' solid team defense throughout the series, had 32 saves to record his fourth career playoff shutout.
In all, the Sharks looked every bit like the team that up until mid-March, was in control of the Pacific Division with their sights firmly set on another deep playoff run.
The Sharks preached patience after they were held scoreless in games two and three, saying that if they continued to play well on defense and capitalize on their scoring opportunities, they could get right back in the series.
That's what they did Tuesday, when they ensured that they'll have at least one more home game this season. Game 6 is scheduled for Saturday.
"We're doing a lot of really good things," Sharks forward Patrick Marleau said Tuesday morning. "It's a matter of putting the puck in the back of the net now for us, and continuing to do those things on both sides of the puck."
That wasn't a problem, as the Sharks earned their biggest-ever margin of victory in a playoff game. They've won by five goals three times before, including a 5-0 victory over Nashville in Game 7 of last year's Western Conference semifinals.
Marcus Sorensen scored his first playoff at the 9:46 mark of the second period, one of four goals the Sharks had in the second period to take a 6-0 lead. Joel Ward added two assists.
Couture's second goal at the 12:52 mark chased Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot, who had shut out the Sharks in games two and three.
The Oilers showed their frustration at the 13:44 mark of the second period.
Chris Tierney, battling for a loose puck in the corner, was struck in the groin by the stick of Oilers center Leon Draisaitl, who got a five-minute penalty for spearing and a game misconduct. Tierney went off the ice briefly but soon returned to the game.
Couture centered the second line with Joonas Donskoi and Jannik Hansen, and Tomas Hertl played in the middle on the third line with Melker Karlsson and Timo Meier.
With the Oilers having a two-games-to-one lead, the Sharks clearly needed to find a way to get their top offensive stars going in Game 4, or risk having Tuesday's game be their last at SAP Center this season.
"(Experience is) only good if you use it in the right way," Marleau said. "We need to come up with a big effort tonight and I think past experiences have shown that things like that can happen and guys can step up for the challenge."
