The San Jose Sharks blew a three-goal lead in the third period, then allowed a goal to Zach Hyman at the 1:06 mark of overtime in a stinging 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at Rogers Place.
With the Sharks leading 3-0, Leon Draisaitl scored at the 1:34 mark of the third period, then assisted on late goals by Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard, with Bouchard’s goal on a blast from inside the blue line coming with 59 seconds left in regulation time. Both late goals came after the Oilers pulled goalie Connor Ingram for the extra attacker.
In overtime, Timothy Liljegren turned the puck over to the Oilers. Later, Hyman shoved Liljegren into the crease, took a pass from McDavid in the Sharks’ zone and one-timed a shot past goalie Yaroslav Askarov for his 22nd goal of the season.
“I made a made a bad turnover. I was trying to get it over to (Alex Wennberg) on the other side, and kind of fanned on the puck a little bit, and they got possession,” Liljegren said. “Bad way to end it. I thought we played a good 40 minutes and then didn’t have a good third. They got three goals, and that’s what you get.”
The Oilers have now beaten the Sharks in 15 of their last 16 meetings, dating back to the start of the 2021-22 season. Thursday’s loss also marked the second time in 21 games this season that the Sharks have lost a game when leading after two periods. They had been 19-0-1 in such situations.
Askarov made 28 saves, including 12 in the first period.
Asked about the winning sequence in overtime, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, “We turn it over, and then (Liljegren) gets pushed into our goalie.”
All three Sharks goals came in the first period, setting a team record in the process.
Collin Graf and Adam Gaudette scored first period goals just 1:09 apart, and Michael Misa added his second career NHL goal at the 11:40 mark for a 3-0 Sharks lead.
It marked the first time in team history that the Sharks have scored three first period goals in three straight games, after doing the same against the New York Rangers last week and the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
The Sharks (27-21-4) thought they had made it 4-0 in the second period on Thursday. But a goal by Barclay Goodrow was waved off after officials determined on the ice that Zack Ostapchuk interfered with Ingram before the puck crossed the line. The Sharks did not challenge the call.
The Sharks are now 1-0-1 on their road trip that continues with games against the Calgary Flames on Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday and the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
Spectators were expecting a duel between two of the NHL’s leading scorers in Macklin Celebrini and McDavid, two of the 25 players on Canada’s roster for next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy.
“Tonight, I hope he doesn’t do anything, and in a week, I hope he does a lot,” Celebrini said before Thursday’s game. “it’ll be fun to obviously play with him, but we still have four games left that we need to focus on.”
Celebrini assisted on Graf’s goal 26 seconds into the first period – which began with Graf knocking the puck off of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ stick at the Oilers’ blue line — to extend his point streak to three games.
For most of Thursday’s game, the Sharks did an admiral job slowing down McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer whose goal with 3:05 left in regulation time cut the Sharks lead to 3-2.
Celebrini now has 79 points this season, including seven in the last three games. McDavid has 94.
“Obviously, they have a great team over there and some special players. I think we’re all excited for the challenge today,” Celebrini said. “Just the way (McDavid) plays the game, it’s special. The way skates. Every time he’s on the ice, he makes special things happen.
“You don’t need to hear from me; you just need to watch him.”
