SAN JOSE -- Bracing for San Jose's best in a do-or-die contest for the Sharks, Vegas played perhaps their best hockey of the post-season, eliminating San Jose and advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
Winning Play
A minute into the third period, down 2-0, Mikkel Boedker went wide on Shea Theodore and tried to stuff it in tight on Marc-Andre Fleury. Brent Burns would follow with a wrister. It was a solid start for a presumably desperate Sharks squad.
The Golden Knights would reel off 11 of the next 12 shots over the following 12 minutes.
"We played like there was no tomorrow," said Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of the team which had the 3-2 series lead.
It was Bellemare's line -- with Ryan Reaves and Ryan Carpenter -- which controlled a huge portion of these series-defining 12 minutes, as they compiled eight shot attempts, seven shots, and four scoring chances in just four shifts. They allowed nothing -- chances, shots, or attempts -- against in this stretch.
So let's the roll the tape on the fourth line's exemplary final frame -- excluding the last 48 seconds when the game was not in doubt anymore -- while highlighting some key plays:
17:10 -- Reaves deflects Luca Sbisa's point shot. While Reaves misses the ensuing rebound, look how he outmuscles and outhustles Melker Karlsson to the loose puck, keeping it alive. Carpenter then ties up Joakim Ryan's stick. Burns rims, but Reaves is there. Carpenter makes a nifty move as Burns flies by and misses, feeding Bellemare for a stuff. This line has put on so much pressure, the defensemen change, and now, it's Shea Theodore with a point shot, which Reaves and Bellemare double-deflect.
"Just the size. The strength," explained Gallant of Reaves's inclusion into the line-up. We saw an impressive display of that here in the burly winger's playoff debut.
13:05 -- Carpenter, Bellemare, and Reaves forecheck Brenden Dillon, Kevin Labanc, and Dylan DeMelo in succession with authority, causing a turnover. Carpenter eludes Dillon in the corner, making a pretty pass through DeMelo's legs to Bellemare in the slot. Bellemare has outhustled Karlsson to the front. This leads to a San Jose icing.
9:50 -- Burns overskates the puck in the corner, Carpenter is right on top of him. The Sharks recover, but Bellemare won't let Boedker get away from him along the wall, forcing Boedker into a soft, aimless pass up the middle, which Carpenter beats Dillon to. Bellemare walks in for another chance.
4:45 -- Carpenter outbattles Burns and as that line leaves the ice, the puck once again is in San Jose's zone.
Gallant indicated, "The last 10 minutes of the 2nd and the 3rd period was outstanding. It was probably our best hockey of the playoffs."
That's a compliment to his entire team, but also this forward unit which had faced questions after Game Four about the greater impact that the Sharks' fourth line of Karlsson-Eric Fehr-Marcus Sorenson was having.
Bellemare, of course, is the linchpin of his line, as his wingers have changed from Tomas Nosek and William Carrier to Carpenter and Reaves over the last week.
"It's easy to play with him; it's easy to read off of him," said Reaves of Bellemare. "He's a steady centerman. He's really, really good in the defensive zone. He brings energy. He brings a lot of responsibility."
Bellemare talked about how his line hoped to impact the game.
"Every time we had a chance to go north, we went north with the puck. Trying to create some scrums behind the net, try to create some chances. If we could cut their speed a bit, a lot of their offense is dead," observed Bellemare.
The veteran center realizes that playing time can be tenuous for his group.
"From the start of the game, the only thing we talked about was to make sure that we gave a chance to our coach to play us. When we don't play a strong game, it's hard for him to put us on the ice.
"The puck has to go in front of us. We have to chase. We have to work our ass off to make sure that the coach knows, 'Alright, those guys are in tonight, so I can trust them anywhere.'
"I felt [Gallant] trusted us everywhere. We played against any line in any situation."
As for Carpenter, it was a sweet victory against the team which waived him in December. While Bellemare wasn't on the ice, he expressed his happiness that Carpenter was rewarded for his hard work with an assist on Cody Eakin's empty netter.
Carpenter, on his emotions after assisting on Eakin goal which finished off his former team: "I was just excited. Probably embarrassing cellying that hard on an empty net assist." #VegasBorn#SJSharkspic.twitter.com/QPx9Opf5JU
But not only the leader of a line, Bellemare is a leader on the team.
"We learned our lesson the last game about not sitting back. Our forwards not sitting back, which pushes our D back. Just puts us on our heels," noted Nate Schmidt. "Belly talked about it. The most important part of our period is we continue to go on the attack -- make sure we're smart on our reloads -- but continue to be on the attack."
There's no doubt that Bellemare and his line led the charge tonight.
Pluses
Speaking of Schmidt, he broke his goal down wonderfully:
"The intention is to shoot against the grain. You're taking the goalies' eyes away. That's just where the play was happening," said Schmidt. "It's something that we've been doing a lot better in the playoffs. Getting guys to the net off faceoffs, making more chaos in front of the net. If you're getting pucks through, guys are starting to look for the puck and they're not as concerned about picking up a guy."
While Bellemare and company may have surprised, this was not a vintage performance from one of the premier lines in hockey. Just for example, William Karlsson sported a team-worst 5v5 Corsi (34.38), Scoring Chances For % (35.29), and High-Danger Corsi For % (20.0). His linemates weren't much better.
In fact, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Karlsson line only had one high-danger 5v5 scoring chance. But greatness only needs a single opportunity to shine.
At the blueline, Karlsson seems to surprise the usually inflappable Marc-Edouard Vlasic into a turnover. It's a scramble for the Sharks from that point on, as they can't recover quickly enough -- Reilly Smith connects with a wide-open Jonathan Marcheessault.
It was an ignominious end for a Vlasic-Justin Braun pairing which had so gamely battled the Golden Knights' best for six games.
Minuses
Chaos. Tomas Hertl hits iron and Fleury leaps over the centering pass to avoid a deflection goal. pic.twitter.com/Ld5C8f64bp
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