Sharks rally to win Game 1 in overtime

EDMONTON -- The San Jose Sharks demonstrated experience is a factor, battling back from down two goals for a 3-2 overtime victory against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
Melker Karlsson beat goalie Cam Talbot at 3:22 of overtime off a pass from Joe Pavelski to give San Jose the win.
"We played a solid game, pretty good defensively," Karlsson said. "We got the chance and I snuck it in. I got a little space and [Pavelski] saw me in the middle. It was a half-breakaway. It was nice."

\[WATCH: All Sharks vs. Oilers highlights\] | \[RELATED: Complete San Jose vs. Edmonton series coverage\]
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Friday in Edmonton.
Oscar Klefbom and Milan Lucic scored for the Oilers, who were playing their first Stanley Cup Playoff game in 11 years. Talbot made 41 saves.
Joel Ward and defenseman Paul Martin scored, and Martin Jones made 17 saves for the Sharks, who lost the 2016 Stanley Cup Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.

"It was a big win, we came back so strong," San Jose forward Tomas Hertl said. "The reason we went so far last year is because we kept coming back in the second and third periods. We just keep going. We have a deep team. If we keep playing this same way, we will win the next game here too."
The Sharks roster had played a total of 1,169 NHL postseason games compared to the Oilers' 342 entering the series.
Klefbom scored at 6:44 of the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. The defenseman received a cross-ice pass from Jordan Eberle, and his shot from the left faceoff circle hit San Jose defenseman David Schlemko, changed direction, and slid underneath Jones.

Lucic put the Oilers up 2-0 on the power play with 2:53 left in the first when he scored off the rebound of a Mark Letestu shot.
The Sharks began to battle back in the second period, when they outshot the Oilers 10-4. San Jose started the period on the power play, and then was awarded two more.
"The biggest thing is we've got to stay out of the box," Eberle said. "I think you lose momentum by doing that. The guys who kill are wasting a lot of energy, and the guys who aren't, they're sitting on the bench. So you don't get a lot of flow in the game, so you can't roll the lines and play the way we know we can play."

Ward got the Sharks within 2-1 on the power play at 1:43. Joonas Donskoi attempted a wraparound, and the puck slid to Ward at the other side of the net for a shot past Talbot.
Martin tied the game 2-2 at 5:22 of the third period at 4-on-4. Oilers forward Pat Maroon and Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic each was serving a roughing penalty.
San Jose outshot Edmonton 18-3 in the third and 6-2 in overtime.

"They were able to grab the game and we were unable to grab it back," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "There are some things we have to improve on. We didn't come out of our end very well, we didn't play with a lot of pace, and I think that was a product of their checking, their tenacity, and that's playoff hockey. It's going to get tighter, it's going to get harder."

Goal of the game

Hertl collected the puck behind the net off a Letestu turnover, skated out front, and tried to jam it past Talbot on the left side of the net. Talbot made the save, but the rebound went to Martin on the right side for the tying goal.

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Save of the game

Talbot came out of his crease and made a right-pad save on Brent Burns at the bottom of the left circle at 3:42 of the second period.

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Unsung performance of the game

Oilers defenseman Kris Russell had a game-high six blocked shots and played 6:08 of the 11:58 Edmonton was shorthanded.

Highlight of the game

Vlasic played the puck along the wall from behind the San Jose net to Pavelski at the blue line. Pavelski passed from the red line to Karlsson with speed at the Oilers blue line, and he shot from the top of the left circle past Talbot's glove.

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They said it

"There wasn't much panic. We realized we played not a bad period for the first one of the playoffs, coming into this building. You could feel the energy right away. It was great. So we come out and get a pretty good start, and they get one that goes off one of our guys a little bit. That happens." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski
"I don't know whether they raised their game or our game fell off. It's tough to say. I thought maybe we got a little comfortable, which can't happen." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid
"Throughout the whole game I thought I made some big saves, so I don't know what I could have done differently on the first couple of goals. The third one just beat me clean. That's maybe a save I've got to make in an overtime period. But give them credit, they didn't give us a whole lot of chances; they were the better team tonight." -- Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot

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Need to know

Sharks center Joe Thornton did not play because of a knee injury. … Vlasic had two assists. ... Oilers defensemen Adam Larsson and Eric Gryba each had eight hits. ... With an assist on Lucic's goal, McDavid has at least a point in 15 straight games going back to the regular season.

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What's next

Game 2 of Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports, NBCS CA)