Karlsson's OT goal lifts Sharks to Game 1 win over Oilers
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Playing their first postseason game in 11 years, the Edmonton Oilers rolled out to a two-goal, first period lead.
But, after that, it was all San Jose Sharks.
Melker Karlsson's wrist shot-goal at 3:22 of overtime gave the Sharks a 3-2 win over the Oilers in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.
Cam Talbot made 41 saves for the Oilers, while Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped 17 shots, most of them in the first period.
A minute into the third, Drake Caggiula had a breakaway chance to give Edmonton a 3-1 lead, but his stick broke before he could unleash a shot on Jones.
The near-miss was costly, as with 14:38 left, Sharks defenseman Paul Martin streaked off the blue line to bang a loose puck past Talbot.
San Jose winger Joonas Donskoi had his power-play tip effort go off the post with a little more than seven minutes left, setting the stage for overtime.
The Oilers opened the scoring at 6:44 when Oscar Klefbom took a cross-ice pass from Jordan Eberle and took a low shot that deflected off Sharks defenseman David Schlemko and into the goal. Klefbom finished the regular season with seven points in four games.
Milan Lucic, who got an assist on the Klefbom goal, then snapped a wrist shot past Jones at 17:07. The power-play goal saw Connor McDavid, who led the league with 100 points, get his first-ever playoff assist.
Lucic was a force, delivering several crushing checks through the first period that earned roars from the capacity crowd.
At 1:43 of the second, Joel Ward cut the lead in the half on a San Jose man-advantage, banging home a nifty backhanded pass from Donskoi.
NOTES: For Game 1, the Oilers sold concourse passes for $80 (Canadian) each, which admitted a limited number of fans to the arena, but without views of the ice. ... As of Wednesday morning, the most inexpensive tickets for Game 1 on resale site, StubHub, were going for $245 U.S. each. ... The Oilers' previous visit to the playoffs was in 2006, when they got all the way to the Stanley Cup final. That year, they beat San Jose four games to two in the Western Conference semifinal. ... Sharks C Joe Thornton, who has been nursing a knee issue over the last week, was not able to go. .... The Sharks also scratched C Micheal Haley, RW Kevin Labanc and D Dylan DeMelo. ... The Oilers scratched C Matt Hendricks, D Matthew Benning, LW Jujhar Khaira and LW Anton Slepyshev. ... Sharks C Logan Couture had been out since taking a puck to the face March 25 in Nashville, but was good to go for Game 1. He led the Sharks with 30 points in 24 games in the 2015-16 playoffs.