Oilers shut out Sharks in Game 2, tie series

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid and Zack Kassian each scored a shorthanded goal to help the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-0 win against the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of their Western Conference First Round series at Rogers Place on Friday.
Cam Talbot made 16 saves for the Oilers, who tied the best-of-7 series 1-1 with their first postseason win since Game 6 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Game 3 is in San Jose on Sunday.

\[WATCH: All Sharks vs. Oilers highlights\] | \[RELATED: Complete San Jose vs. Edmonton series coverage\]
It was Talbot's first NHL playoff shutout.
"I can't say enough good things about the penalty kill tonight," Talbot said. "They did a heck of a job, and that's what won us the game tonight, especially with two shorthanded goals."
Kassian scored on a breakaway 42 seconds into the second period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. Sharks center Joe Pavelski lost control of the puck at the Oilers blue line on the power play, and Mark Letestu sent Kassian in alone against Jones with a pass in the neutral zone.

"My linemates played well," Kassian said. "As a line, we got a lot of energy, and if we're going to win this series, we're going to need all lines going, different guys stepping up every night."
Kassian had six hits, including a big one in open ice on Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon at 7:54 of the first period and another on Logan Couture along the boards at 12:44 of the second.
"He's got enough talent to put the puck in the back of the net, he's always a physical presence, and he's added the penalty-killing to his game," Letestu said of Kassian. "There's a lot of different ways that he can have an impact, and I think in every one of those areas, if he wasn't our best player, he was pretty [darn] close."
San Jose was 0-for-6 on the power play, and Edmonton was 0-for-4.

"Scoring on our power play would have been nice," Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said. "We just need to work through it. It is frustrating, obviously. We need to communicate better and help each other. We need to get better there. That was the difference in the game, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
McDavid scored his first NHL playoff goal at 10:31 of the second to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead.
The goal extended McDavid's point streak to 16 games dating back to the regular season (March 14).
"That first game, there might have been a little bit of nerves there," McDavid said of Edmonton's 3-2 overtime loss in Game 1 on Wednesday. "I definitely felt a little nervous heading in, but tonight everyone just felt calm, ready to go. I think we got back to the style of game we want to play."

Goal of the game

Pavelski had a second chance after he accidentally put the puck on Kassian's stick with San Jose on the power play, but he played it to Letestu while Kassian was skating past him. Letestu passed ahead to Kassian, who calmly skated in on Jones and beat him from between the hash marks to open the scoring.

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Save of the game

Jones came out to challenge Letestu and was able to freeze the puck after stopping his slap shot from the left circle with his chest at 4:32 of the third period.

Unsung performance of the game

Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson had a plus-1 rating and six hits in 21:01.

Highlight of the game

McDavid collected a loose puck in the Oilers zone, raced down the left wing, and shot the puck between Jones' pads from the top of the left faceoff circle.

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They said it

"Going into the third period, we were only down 1-0. I thought from a road perspective, we still had a chance to win the game. Those are games when you go on playoff runs, you find a way to get a power-play goal or someone steps up and makes a play, and it didn't happen tonight." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer
"We will continue to play physical, but it's the two penalties after the whistle, the careless high stick that got us away from our game. If we take care of that, we'll be OK. You're not going to win killing 12 minutes a night, no matter how good your penalty kill is. Eventually, they're going to strike and they'll strike often." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan
"I think the postseason is as fitted for anybody who's a player like [Zack Kassian], the physical play, the speed, the emotion that's in the game. That's [Kassian]; emotion and speed. And we've seen it on display and in so many different facets tonight. And I think the impact he made on the game is the impression he made on the fans, chanting his name. It was pretty obvious who was our best player." -- Oilers center Mark Letestu

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Need to know

Edmonton defenseman Oscar Klefbom left the game after blocking a Patrick Marleau shot at 8:56 of the third period. ... McDavid, at 20 years, 91 days, is the youngest Oilers player to score in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since Martin Gelinas (19 years, 319 days) in Game 2 of the Smythe Division Final against the Los Angeles Kings on April 20, 1990, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... It was the first time Edmonton scored two shorthanded goals in a postseason game since Game 4 of the Smythe Division Final against the Calgary Flames on April 24, 1986 (Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri).

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What's next

Game 3 of Western Conference First Round at SAP Center on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports, NBCS CA)