SAN JOSE -- The Sharks' Stanley Cup playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights was full of drama, no doubt. But there was absolutely nothing more dramatic than how Team Teal stormed back from a three-goal, third-period deficit and kept their season alive.
The Pacific Division rivals' contentious first-round series finally came to an end Tuesday night, as Barclay Goodrow scored with 1:41 left in overtime to finish the Sharks' 5-4 win in the decisive Game 7.
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Here are three takeaways from the historic game at SAP Center, which will host Game 1 of the second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night. Puck drop is TBD.
Power play finally makes a huge impact
This was an area where San Jose had struggled throughout the series, and part of the reason it trailed three games to one. So when the Sharks received back-to-back opportunities early in the first period and didn’t find the back of the net, questions instantly began to arise as to whether those two missed chances would cost the Sharks in the end.
In the third period, though, the Sharks were given a five-minute power play after captain Joe Pavelski was taken out of the game by Vegas' Cody Eakins in a gruesome scene. It was exactly what the Sharks needed to get back into the game, no matter how late it was, as they scored four consecutive goals during the major penalty and briefly held a 4-3 lead.
San Jose Sharks
Martin Jones write chapter in redemption story
OK, the tying goal the Sharks goalie gave up late in the third period wasn’t good at all. But you can't deny that for all the flack Jones received at the beginning of the season, boy, did he turn it around, making 34 saves in Game 7.
Jones continued his strong play from Games 5 and 6 into the last game of the series, and he easily was the Sharks' best player in the final two contests. The only thing missing was the team in front of him giving him some goal support for the majority of Game 7, which made things worse when he let in Vegas' third goal for a 3-0 deficit.
Things looked extra bleak because Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (43 saves) played a magnificent game through the majority of the evening. But that only made the Sharks' comeback even more amazing when they got four pucks past him in less than a period.
Logan Couture got angry, then got even
Yes, the whole Sharks team was upset when Pavelski had to be helped off the ice in the third period. But absolutely nobody channeled that anger into success quite like No. 39, as he scored two goals during San Jose’s massive third-period comeback.
The Sharks had many heroes during the seven-game series -- Jones turning things around late in the series, Tomas Hertl scoring the big overtime goal in Game 6, and so on. But when we look back on this series, Couture set up everything for Goodrow to have the opportunity to score in overtime.
Couture scored six games and added two assists for eight total points in the seven games against Vegas.