- Editor's Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
Erik Karlsson summarized the Sharks’ 3-2 comeback shootout win over the Minnesota Wild with one simple sentence.
“We stuck with it the whole game."
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The Sharks, down 2-0 with seven minutes to go in the game, looked dead in the water. Then, Steven Lorentz got in front of the net and put in the rebound from a Marc-Edouard Vlasic point shot. Nico Sturm tied it two minutes later with a long shot that eluded Filip Gustavsson. Finally, Alexander Barabanov clinched it in extra time with his first-ever NHL shootout goal.
But back to Karlsson’s point, there were many times where the Sharks could’ve packed it in. When the Wild stormed out of the gate with a 9-1 shots rampage. After back-to-back Kevin Labanc offensive zone penalties in the second period. After a Karlsson turnover on the power play gave Minnesota a short-handed goal early in the third period.
That’s why you keep games close. The good teams keep grinding until they see daylight.
It was a couple of old reliables that kept the Sharks in it.
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James Reimer got the Sharks out of a listless first period down just a goal, getting a well-deserved shoutout from coach David Quinn afterwards.
