Sharks Game 14 Recap: Sharks 3, Ducks 2 (2/15/21)

 The Sharks are back in the win column, this time in regulation, as they defeat the Ducks 3-2 to end their three-game skid. 

It first seemed like we would have a repeat of the past few games when the Ducks scored 50 seconds into the first period to get on the board first. The first goal for the Ducks was actually deflected off of Mario Ferraro's skate but credited to Sam Steel. Later on in the first period, John Leonard scored his first NHL goal on the power play to tie it at one, with Timo Meier and Mario Ferraro assisting on the game-tying goal in the first. In addition, Ryan Donato created an effective screen in front of John Gibson to allow the puck to find the back of the net. 

Early in the second period, Kevin Labanc banked it off of John Gibson behind the net to give the Sharks their first lead of the game, his first goal in ten games. Later on in the second, Logan Couture scored to make it 3-1 after Gibson initially made contact with the puck and then lost control of it. Couture also recorded an assist on the Labanc go-ahead goal along with Evander Kane. So far, Couture has been the Sharks' most consistent player this season. The Sharks broke the curse of the second period last night and played their best second period this season by carrying a two-goal lead at the end of two and only allowing four shots on goal from the Ducks. 

Not long into the third period, another unfortunate bounce off of Mario Ferraro, this time off his stick, got the Ducks within one. Despite another mishap from Mario Ferraro, the second Ducks goal was credited to Max Comtois. The Sharks improved to 6-7-1 through 14 games; a quarter of their season has now been completed and has gone by pretty quickly. This was also Bob Boughner's 100th win as an NHL head coach.

Although the Sharks played well without Erik Karlsson and Radim Simek in the lineup, it has yet to be determined if the team can keep up their level of performance seen in their most recent game and how sustainable playing without Karlsson and Simek is for the Sharks. 

Martin Jones' performance has improved significantly from his past few starts, stopping 26 of 28 shots from the Ducks. Devan Dubnyk was available as a backup if necessary. Fredrik Claesson and Stefan Noesen were inserted into the lineup last night, while Marcus Sorensen was a healthy scratch. 

The Sharks begin a critical stretch of nine games against the top three teams in the West Division: the Blues, Avalanche, and Golden Knights, starting with a quick two-game road series against the Blues in St. Louis. The first game in the Blues series in St. Louis is Thursday at 5 pm PT. 

On a side note, the NHL announced today that the Sharks vs. Wild game originally scheduled for April 23 has been moved to Monday, February 22 at 7:30 pm PT at SAP Center. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, ESPN, NHL.com