Inside the Cage: All is Fehr

When asked after scoring a late regular-season goal against Detroit - his first as a Shark - Eric Fehr said he couldn't recall his last NHL goal, which came at Montreal in January of last season while a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After scoring a highlight-reel doozy during San Jose's 8-1 rout of Anaheim in Game 3 on Monday, Fehr had better recollection of his previous playoff goal.
"That one I do," Fehr said with a smile. "And I don't talk about it around here."
And for good reason.

That goal came June 6 during the 2016 Stanley Cup Final between the Penguins and Sharks on the very same SAP Center ice surface - and into the same net, no less - to cap a 3-1 win in Game 4 that gave the eventual champs a series edge by the same count.
The one he scored Monday at 13:43 as part of a four-goal second-period outburst is one he and his teammates can and will freely talk about.
After rushing the puck through center and avoiding one defender with a stutter step, Fehr skated, drove the left boards and through a slash by Anaheim's Andrew Cogliano. Fehr cut toward the slot, ducked inside Francois Beauchemin, and shot between the defenseman's legs to beat goalie John Gibson and give the hosts a 4-1 lead.

"Our depth was great," said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer before singling out Fehr's forward line as being outstanding. "When you want to go on any kind of playoff run you have to win all kinds of different ways, and different guys have to step up at different moments."
The team's fourth line has made a pivotal contribution to enable the Sharks to zip out to a 3-0 first-round series lead over their Pacific Division rivals. On Monday alone, left wing Marcus Sorensen scored his second goal of the series, added an assist and was a plus-2. Right wing Melker Karlsson chipped in an assist and was a plus-1. And Fehr, also a plus-1, blocked a shot, recorded a takeaway and won five draws in addition to his ninth career playoff goal during his 22 shifts over 13:30 of ice time.
"If you're going to have a four-line attack," DeBoer started, "you're going to need skill on that line that can put a puck in the net so you're not just grinding."
The Sharks experimented much of the regular season to build an effective combination on a fourth line. Chris Tierney started the season in the middle there, but his improved play earned a promotion to the third line early on.
Youngsters Ryan Carpenter and Danny O'Regan were given a shot before each were eventually dealt. Barclay Goodrow and veteran Joel Ward were moved from wing in an attempt to give the unit more size in the middle.
It wasn't until six days before the Feb. 26 NHL trade deadline that Fehr was acquired from Toronto in an under-the-radar transaction that included San Jose sending a seventh-round pick in 2020 to the Maple Leafs. The 32-year-old journeyman, who had played only four games for Toronto this season, was on loan to the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League. And with 28 points in 34 games, he was having a productive season with Anaheim's top development team.
The 6-foot-4, 208-pound native of Winkler, Manitoba, possesses the kind of size DeBoer prefers in a bottom-six center, and Fehr has plenty of practical experience having played parts of 13 NHL seasons with Washington, Winnipeg, Pittsburgh and Toronto.
And, maybe the biggest factor of all, Fehr was still looking for at least that one more shot at the NHL.
"That's what kept me playing," said Fehr, a veteran of 63 playoff games. "I had a chance to come in here and play some playoff hockey. It's the best time of the year. This is what you play for. I'm real excited we've put ourselves in a good spot here."
"He's a veteran presence," DeBoer said of Fehr, who when with Pittsburgh caught the coach's eye. "He was a big part of their Stanley Cup team on their fourth line, killing penalties, playing center and winning draws. He's got a lot more skill than he gets credit for."
Skill, too, is what youngsters Sorensen and Karlsson bring to the line.
Signed as a free agent in May of 2016, the Swedish native Sorensen has been up with the Sharks and down with the Barracuda while learning how to be a consistent performer. His biggest asset is speed. Sorensen scored five goals in 32 regular-season games after impressing with a goal and two points against Edmonton in the playoffs last spring.

"He was a guy who came back as a second-year player and I thought battled some inconsistency in his game," DeBoer said. "We just kept talking to him all year. I really felt when he was on his game - using his speed, playing on the inside and playing a little reckless - he could be an effective playoff player for us.
"It was just finding that game consistently, I thought the last 5-6 games of the season he started to do that every night and he's carried that into the playoffs. We're seeing what we say in the first round against Edmonton."
Another free-agent Swede, Karlsson, has two more years of NHL experience than Sorensen. DeBoer refers to Karlsson as a Swiss Army knife because he's a versatile player who can line up at any forward position, skates well, is strong on the forecheck, contributes to special teams and has the ability to score.
"He's a really fast skater and he seems to get into every puck and give us an opportunity to get into the offensive zone," Fehr said of Sorensen. "Between he and Melker, they're hard on the puck, they want the puck and they do a great job."