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5 Longest Games in San Jose Sharks History

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Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets set a number of records in their 5OT thriller last week.

Joonas Korpisalo made 85 saves, the most officially recorded in an NHL game. Seth Jones played 65:06, the most by a skater since 1997-98, when the stat was first officially recorded.

In that spirit, let’s take a look back at some of the stories and records from the five longest games in San Jose Sharks history.

Oddly enough: All of these games were played on the road. In fact, there’s never even been a double-OT game at SAP Center/HP Pavilion/Compaq Center/San Jose Arena.

The longest post-season tilt in SAP Center history was May 9, 2004, as Steve Montador took Game One of the Western Conference Finals for the Calgary Flames 18:43 into the first OT.

The second longest? That would of course be Barclay Goodrow 18:19 into the first OT, eliminating the Golden Knights in last year’s playoffs.

San Jose Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks
Game 5
May 24, 2011
90:18

13.2 seconds.

That was the difference between the Sharks forcing a Game Six in the Western Conference Finals or going home early once again.

But we shouldn’t have even gotten to the point where Ryan Kesler could deflect home the game-tying goal with 13.2 on the clock.

Just seconds earlier, the officials had called Dan Boyle for icing, even though his clear appeared to glance off Daniel Sedin on its way out of the zone.

San Jose lost the draw, and 10:18 into the second OT, Kevin Bieksa sent the Sharks packing.

San Jose Sharks @ Vegas Golden Knights
Game 6
April 21, 2019
91:17

The story was Tomas Hertl’s “guarantee” that there would be a Game Seven.

Of course, it was Hertl who scored 11:17 into the second OT of Game Six to send the series back to San Jose to set up Goodrow’s heroics. Hertl became the first player in NHL history to notch a short-handed winner in a playoff contest with multiple overtimes.

But it was just as much Martin Jones who made Game Seven a reality.

In a Sharks record, Jones turned back 58 of 59 shots. His counterpart, Marc-Andre Fleury, faced just 29 shots.

Just as remarkable as Jones’s performance was the 360 from Game Four, only five days earlier. Jones had just been pulled for a second time in the series, San Jose was down 3-1, and he was ducking the media.

Jones would stop 122 of the next 129 shots to spearhead the San Jose first-round comeback over Vegas.

For then-Sharks goaltending coach Johan Hedberg, this was Jones’s most impressive moment as a Shark:

“I think the way that he handled the playoff series against Vegas, how he turned that around. That’s probably the most impressive thing. Things were going really rough for us. Things weren’t going his way either. He took charge of the situation and turned the whole series around.

“The mental strength that he showed there was very, very impressive to me.”

San Jose Sharks @ Edmonton Oilers
Game Three
May 10, 2006
102:24

The Sharks were rolling.

They were on a six-game post-season winning streak. They were up 2-0 in their second-round series against the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers. And they were 13 minutes away from putting the Oilers in a 3-0 hole.

But then, Raffi Torres beat Vesa Toskala to tie the game.

To add insult to injury, it was Torres who took Milan Michalek out in the previous game with this elbow:

John MacKinnon of The Edmonton Journal called this hit “perhaps borderline.” (MacKinnon, John. The Edmonton Journal. “Oilers dig deep for key victory.” May 11, 2006.) Okay, it was different times.

But what wasn’t different was playoff heartbreak for the San Jose. 2:24 into the third OT, Shawn Horcoff would stave off a 3-0 series hole. Edmonton roared back, taking the second round with four straight victories, en route to the Stanley Cup Final.

San Jose Sharks @ Nashville Predators
Game Four
May 5, 2016
111:12

San Jose was up 2-0 in this series.

However, just 11:12 into the third OT, Mike Fisher would tie things up. This was the first time since December that the Sharks had lost consecutive road games.

San Jose, however, would flip the playoff narrative, pulling out this second-round series in seven games. They then beat the St. Louis Blues to reach their first and only Stanley Cup Final.

Perhaps we can thank this black cat for giving the Sharks some good luck?

That’s Jo Pawvelski, who would eventually find a home with Patrick Marleau’s family:

San Jose Sharks @ Dallas Stars
Game Six
May 4, 2008
129:03

Evgeni Nabokov certainly did his best to ward off elimination, stopping 51 of 53 shots, none better than this glove save in 1OT on Brad Richards:

Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks

On the other side, however, Marty Turco was just a little better, making 61 saves, like these back-to-back stops on Marleau.

San Jose’s 62 shots on goal are still a franchise record.

Meanwhile, Brian Campbell set a Sharks playoff record by playing 56:23. He would’ve played more, except he was in the penalty box when Brenden Morrow ended the longest game of the decade 9:03 into the fourth OT.

It was just a couple months earlier that Campbell was acquired at the Trade Deadline from the Buffalo Sabres.

A distraught Campbell begged Sabres fans then: “I hope they’ve enjoyed watching me play. Don’t boo me when I come back. C’mon, that’s all. Don’t boo me.”

The pending UFA was a hit with the Sharks, notching 19 points in 20 games to close the regular season…until he wasn’t. In one of the great heel turns in team history, Campbell ended his Bay Area tenure by tripping Loui Eriksson in the fourth OT, then signing an eight-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

San Jose fans would boo Campbell until he retired in 2017.

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