Sharks top Predators in seven-round shootout for third straight win

SAN JOSE -- Timo Meier scored in the seventh round of the shootout for the San Jose Sharks in a 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators at SAP Center on Saturday.

Meier glided through the right face-off circle and lifted a shot over goalie Juuse Saros' blocker for the only goal of the shootout.
"I was just reading off the goalie, and I saw that far side was open," Meier said. "I just wanted to get it up."
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Sharks highlights]
Martin Jones made the save against all seven Predators in the tiebreaker after making 24 through overtime for the Sharks, who matched their season high with their third straight win (Oct. 10-16).
"He was excellent all night," San Jose captain Logan Couture said.
Saros made 31 saves through overtime for Nashville (9-6-2), which has earned at least one point in seven of its past nine games (5-2-2).
"You just had to fight for everything out there," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "It was a tight game."

The Sharks' third win in the fifth of a six-game homestand provided a confidence boost after they put themselves in an early-season hole.
"We all knew we weren't playing up to our standards, and kind of forgot how the game is played a little bit for a while," defenseman Erik Karlsson said. "It feels like we're finally starting to look like the team we're supposed to be. Still a long way to get there where we want to get, but this is a good start."
Tomas Hertl tied the game 1-1 for San Jose at 5:22 of the third period when he scored on the rebound of Meier's redirection of Marc-Edouard Vlasic's shot from the left point.
"I thought he was excellent," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said of Hertl. "Actually, we didn't have any passengers tonight. I thought everybody showed up and gave us a real good game, but he was exceptional.
The Predators had a power play for the final 1:31 of overtime after Evander Kane was called for hooking Mikael Granlund, but Jones made four saves.
San Jose killed all four Nashville power plays and has the best penalty kill at home in the NHL (30-for-31, 96.8 percent).
"Specialty teams, even though we didn't score on the power play, were all good out there, and we created a lot of momentum that carried through on the 5-on-5," Karlsson said. "For the most part, it felt like we were carrying this game."
Filip Forsberg fought off Karlsson and scored with a high wrist shot at 14:44 of the second period to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.

"Obviously, we didn't show up that game (a 9-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday), and we knew we were going to be better and we were," Forsberg said. "It was a better effort. We had chances and should have capitalized."
Karlsson said, "Even though they scored the first goal, I don't think it discouraged us. We knew we were playing a good game, and we kept playing that way right to the end. That's why we deserved this win, and I think that's why we got the win."

They said it

"He was really good. He made some really big saves. I think the guys played hard in front of him. It was just a grinding game defensively. I thought we did a pretty good job of trying to take care of them in the offensive zone, but there's obviously going to be some opportunities that come with a team that's got talent like that." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on goalie Juuse Saros
"We're not going to outscore teams. We're not going to win games 6-5 very often. So we've got to be good defensively, and I thought our attention to detail defensively was real good tonight. I thought [goalie Martin Jones] made a couple big saves at key times for us, and we scored enough to win." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Need to know

Forsberg has three goals and two assists during a four-game point streak. ... The Predators are 1-2-2 in their past five games after a four-game winning streak. ... Nashville defenseman Dante Fabbro returned late in the third period wearing a cage after Kane's shot hit him in the face late in the second. ... Jones played his 300th NHL game. ... Hertl has three goals and three assists in the past three games. ... Meier has two goals and three assists during a three-game point streak.

What's next

Predators: At the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSCA, SNW, NHL.TV)