Instant Replay: Hertl keys comeback, Sharks win in shootout

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A pair of third-period goals by Tomas Hertl keyed a come-from-behind Sharks win in Nashville in a shootout on Saturday, 3-2.

San Jose trailed 2-0 at the second intermission before its top line took over. A Joe Pavelski shot from close range was muffled in front by Roman Josi, but Hertl was there to plop in the loose puck at 2:19, bringing the Sharks back to within 2-1.

At 10:31, Hertl got a piece of a Brent Burns floater to make it a 2-2 game. It was his 21st goal of the season, and marked his sixth career multi-goal effort.

Hertl has 17 goals in his last 41 games since moving up to the Joe Thornton-Joe Pavelski line on Jan. 9.

The Sharks went on a power play in overtime on James Neal’s slash at 50 seconds, but couldn’t convert. Joonas Donskoi hit the crossbar with 2:07 to go just after the power play expired. San Jose had five of the six shots in the extra session.

Logan Couture was the only player to convert in the shootout, giving the Sharks the extra point.

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The Sharks drew to within three points of Los Angeles for first place in the Pacific Division. The Kings, who have one game in hand, lost to Dallas earlier on Saturday. Anaheim is two points ahead of San Jose with two games in hand.

The Sharks won their 27th road game, tying the franchise record set in 2007-08. They have one more road game remaining on Tuesday.

Nashville, which officially clinched a playoff spot on Friday night when Washington beat Colorado, scored one goal in each of the first two periods.

Shea Weber, teed up by Mike Ribeiro, smashed a one-timer past James Reimer at 8:07 of the first period to open the scoring.

The Preds seemingly took a 2-0 lead as time expired at the end of the opening frame, but a video review showed that Ryan Johansen’s score after a scramble around the crease crossed the line just after the horn.

It didn’t take them long to get that second goal, though. Neal managed to direct a puck towards Calle Jarnkrok in front of the net, and Jarnkrok somehow got a piece of it while battling with Brenden Dillon to redirect it through at 1:38 of the second.

The Sharks finished 1-2-0 against the Preds this season. Nashville lost its fourth in a row (0-3-1), while San Jose snapped a seven-game losing streak at Bridgestone Arena.

Special teams

The Sharks finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while Nashville was 0-for-2.

San Jose is 21-for-23 on the penalty kill over its last nine games (91.3 percent).

In goal

Reimer made his seventh start in net since he was acquired from the Maple Leafs just before the trade deadline, and stopped 28 of 30 shots. He’s 5-2-0 with San Jose.

His biggest stop came on Colin Wilson in front of the net with 3:15 to go in the second, keeping the Sharks within two scores.

Carter Hutton got the start for Nashville ahead of Pekka Rinne, who got pulled in two of his last three starts. Hutton allowed two goals on 40 Sharks attempts.

Lineup

Injured Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (sprained MCL) skated for the first time on Saturday morning since getting hurt on March 17. He missed his ninth straight game.

Up next

The Sharks close out the road portion of their schedule with their one and only visit to Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday. San Jose has split its first two meetings with the Wild, both at SAP Center.

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