Oh Captain, my Captain! Andrew Ladd would not be denied on this night as he leads the Jets past the Sharks. With just two minutes left, Ladd would blast a shot from the slot past Sharks goalie Antti Niemi on a slick feed from constant linemate Bryan Little. He would then go on to score in the shootout on a drag move to win the game for the Jets.
The Sharks thought they had won the game in overtime when Patrick Marleau buried the puck into a wide open net. As it turns out, Tommy Wingels was called for goalie interference after taking down Ondrej Pavelec to negate the goal.
The Sharks had jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period, despite the fact that Jets outshot the Sharks 15-9 in the period and thoroughly outplayed them. Dan Boyle had blasted a powerplay goal from the point and Tomas Hertl showed his nice finish on a breakaway attempt. Matthew Nieto also had a breakaway attempt in the period but Pavelec stopped that one.
In the second the Jets would continue to pressure the Sharks and would score goals from Michael Frolik, Dustin Byfuglien and Grant Clitsome. Tommy Wingels scored for the Sharks in the frame as well.
The 3rd was back and forth with Boyle burying his second powerplay goal of the game early in the frame. Ladd answered with just 1:43 left in the game.
The Jets ended up outshooting the Sharks 46-34 in the game. The 46 shots was a season high for the Jets. Grant Clitsome ended the game with 1 goal, 2 assists for 3 points, while going a team high +3. Olli Jokinen led the Jets with 5 shots. Tobias Enstrom led the team with 29:35 time on ice. Dan Boyle led the Sharks with 23:30 and the two goals, but finished a team worst -3.
Ten Thoughts
* Andrew Ladd lead by example; when the game is on the line I don't know if there is anybody better in the league. Some here don't agree that clutch exists, I think some guys step it up when it matters. Andrew Ladd is one of those guys.
* Ondrej Pavelec was solid tonight. Didn't have any chance on any of the goals and he came up huge when the Jets needed him. Often criticized for not coming up with the saves when they are needed, tonight he certainly did.
* Do the Jets FINALLY have a 3rd line? Halischuk-Scheifele-Frolik are certainly looking like it. The pure effort of Matt Halichuk scored the Frolik goal. Scheifele showed his slick hands and vision out there tonight. And Frolik is the dependable all around guy. Making of a great 3rd line that are showing up big lately.
* Olli Jokinen continues to look much much better. The numbers aren't quite there yet, but he led the team in shots and continues to show improvement. Night and day compared to last season.
* I've been saying it for a while but it is worth repeating: passive box is a thing of the past. Jets need to step up the pressure on the PK, if you give top end players time they will make you pay. Boyle scored twice on the powerplay as a direct result.
* 4th line did their job tonight. Chris Thorburn, in particular, was effective on the cycle game, as was the rest of the line. Smart safe plays in both ends of the rink. That’s what you need out of the 4th line.
* Jets continue to struggle with the quick transition. Byfuglien was caught well out of position on the Hertl goal, this is a common theme with the Jets.
* Adam Pardy showed some nice skills out there tonight. Other than one bad giveaway by Ellerby (right after Pardy’s freewheeling) the bottom pairing looks much safer out there than most of the season. Both Pardy and Ellerby are making it hard for last year standout Redmond to get into the lineup and will make for some interesting decision when/if the Jets get healthy.
* Clitsome-Byfuglien continues to be a high risk, high reward pairing. Lots of nice things, but still the complete brainfarts that you just don't want to see out of a 2nd pairing playing the toughest minutes on the team. A work in progress, but with top end potential.
* Big win. Hells yeah!
