The Sharks split their first two-game series with the Blues in a 2-1 victory in the shootout last night.
San Jose didn't have much going for them in the first period except for Evander Kane taking a few penalties, one of them being errant. He ended up taking a few more penalties later in the game for a total of eight penalty minutes on the night.
The game remained scoreless until early in the second period when Brayden Schenn put the Blues on the board first. Later in the second, Marcus Sorensen scored while diving for the puck towards the net to tie it for Sharks, which was pretty incredible. Mario Ferraro and Matt Nieto assisted on the play.
Both teams were scoreless in the third as it remained tied at one heading into overtime and eventually a shootout. Ryan Donato had a great scoring chance during overtime and could've put the game away for the Sharks, but it was called off due to goaltender interference.
It wasn't until the last attempt of the first round of the shootout when Tomas Hertl scored to win the game for the Sharks. This was a much-needed win for Team Teal as they are now 2-2-0 on the season. Both of the Sharks' wins this season came in the shootout, while they only had three shootouts the entire season last year.
Despite not showing up on the scoresheet, Erik Karlsson had his best game of the season thus far. Karlsson skated well, and his presence was felt throughout the game. He also created plays and space when necessary and was in similar form to his days as an Ottawa Senator.
Dylan Gambrell was inserted into the lineup for the first time this season, playing on the third line with Stefan Noesen and John Leonard. Martin Jones was given the starting nod in net last night and played fantastic, stopping 22 of 23 in the crease. Jones tends to perform better when he starts every other game rather than in consecutive games, which is also the case with many other goalies in the NHL.
Shots were 38-23 heavily favoring the Sharks, while the Blues prevailed in the faceoff circle 27-22.
Next up, the Sharks travel to Minnesota for a two-game series against the Wild starting on Friday. Puck drop on Friday is at 5 pm PT. Hope the Sharks can carry their current momentum into Minnesota and continue to win, because I know they can.
In other news, the Sharks' team plane was lent to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign team to be used for Biden and Harris' historic inauguration early yesterday.
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area, ESPN
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