SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Right around the time the initial staple went into the back of Joe Pavelski's head, he heard the goal horn go off for the first time.
By the time the fourth or fifth staple went in, it went off again.
Pavelski had eight staples put in to stop the bleeding after the back of his helmet slammed against the SAP Center ice in the third period of Game 7 against the Vegas Golden Knights on April 23.
When he left the game, right after he took a faceoff against Cody Eakin, the Sharks were down three goals. By the time he got to sit in front of a television for the first time and see the score, he simply couldn't believe his eyes.
Sharks 4, Golden Knights 3.
"It was just kind of like, 'How did we score all of these goals? How did we get the power play?' Stuff like that," Pavelski said Sunday in his first public comments since his injury. "Just really proud of the guys, the way they handled it and responded. It was pretty incredible to see what they did out there."
The Sharks, of course, won the game 5-4 in overtime to get to the second round. Now the Sharks are one victory away from advancing to the Western Conference final for the fifth time in their history.
The Sharks took a 3-2 series lead over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, as Tomas Hertl scored twice to help give his team a 2-1 win.
Pavelski traveled with the Sharks on Sunday afternoon to Denver, where San Jose looks to close out the Avalanche on Monday at Pepsi Center. It's doubtful he'll play Game 6, but he has been skating more regularly in recent days.
"You'd like to think you can play tomorrow ... but we're going to be smart, obviously," Pavelski said about the head injury. "Definitely getting closer, feel like I'm getting closer, feel like I want it. The fans have been great, friends and family, everybody's been tremendous. The support, really felt it.
"I think as a player, you really appreciate that, in a moment like this. The biggest thing is just to see what the guys have been doing and it's encouraging to see them really dig in and play just how I know they can play and how we as a group want to play. It's fun to see that, so we're just always looking for that consistency and keep going. But they've done a tremendous job."
In the third period of Saturday's pivotal win by the Sharks, Pavelski was feeling good enough to come out from under the stands at SAP Center to wave to the fans, fire them up and give his team a boost for the final few minutes of regulation time.
"I was excited to get out there. Once I got out there and saw the crowd, and the energy, got into it, you realize how much you miss it," Pavelski said. "I knew I missed it. But these fans are special to me and this group. They always have been.
"To get out there and see them again and hear 'em ... it's a great time of year to be playing hockey. It was a huge win for us. The biggest challenge now is to go in there with that same desperation, play a team that's hanging onto their lives. They're going to come out, play hard."
In the immediate aftermath of the injury, Pavelski said he doesn't remember much. After he landed awkwardly on the ice following Eakin's cross check, and a collision with Paul Stastny, he was nearly motionless for a few moments before he was helped up by trainer Ray Tufts and teammates Joe Thornton, Brent Burns and Evander Kane.
"Some of it I've seen on video by now," Pavelski said. "But just the faceoff, I remember taking it and I don't really remember a whole lot after, getting pushed and all of that stuff. The first thing that kind of came back was getting helped off and Jumbo was right there calming me down."
What did Thornton say?
"Just that 'we got you, we got you. You're going to be alright.' We had a little bit of a sense that it was fairly serious, but just coming back (to win the game), that was definitely one comforting thing."
The cuts on his head were from the impact and the pressure it created inside his helmet. "The helmet did its job, it stayed on, first and foremost," Pavelski said. "In those situations, they can come off. But it stayed on and did everything it was supposed to."
Pavelski wasn't feeling close to 100 percent right after the game of course, but he said he wanted to part of the locker room celebration after one of the most thrilling victories in franchise history.
"I had the headaches and was dizzy at that moment, but was able to come out. I wanted to be in that room," Pavelski said. "I was still very excited for those guys and then we went and got everything checked out after."
Pavelski was still experiencing headaches when he went home, and that night was rough. The headaches had subsided by the following day, but he was still "laying pretty low."
"It was pretty quiet, for me. I didn't have a ton of sensitivity to light. But if I looked at my phone for a little bit longer than a glance, you just get kind of tired," Pavelski added. "TVs, you didn't want them loud, but they could be on.
"It just kind of stayed at that for a little bit. For now, everything's been improving the last four, five days, been able to train a little bit, get through some of those training sessions and skate a little bit and start working our way back."
Pavelski made it clear he holds no ill will toward Eakin or Stastny, who he considers a friend, or how the play transpired. The resulting five-minute major and game misconduct handed to Eakin changed the course of the game, as the Sharks scored four goals with the man advantage in 4:01 to take a one-goal lead.
Jonathan Marchessault tied the game 4-4 in the waning moments of the third period. But Barclay Goodrow scored in overtime to give the Sharks the win.
"Was it a five-minute major? No. I don't think it was," Pavelski said. "There's different aspects. Am I glad they called it that way? Heck yeah.
"The refs have a very tough job with how fast plays happen. It's a scary play. It gets twisted and everything. Was it malicious or anything like that? I don't believe so. It's part of the game. I got twisted up. Got bumped on the way down, hit the head.
"Again, I was glad it was called that way. From that moment on, what the guys did after it, to actually go and do that, score four goals, it was a special night."
