Sharks Game 46 Recap: Golden Knights 5, Sharks 2 (4/21/21)

 The Sharks extend their losing streak to seven as they go down to the Golden Knights for the seventh time this season 5-2. This is also the Golden Knights' eighth-straight win, and Vegas becomes the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot this season. 

Despite the continuing freefall for San Jose, the Sharks scored the first goal of the game from Timo Meier, who deflected a wrap-around pass from Joel Kellman for his ninth goal of the year. The Knights tie it up shortly after on Jonathan Marchessault's first goal of the game. Towards the 11-minute mark in the second period, the Sharks went back ahead on a blast from Tomas Hertl to make it a 2-1 game. Patrick Marleau, playing in his 900th consecutive game, got the primary assist on the Hertl's 14th of the season, while Erik Karlsson got the secondary assist. 

It all unfolded afterwards when the Golden Knights scored four straight to close out this game. Two of them came in the middle frame from from Mark Stone and Alex Tuch, while the last two came in the final frame from Jonathan Marchessault and Matias Janmark. 

Like in previous games this season, the Sharks' power play was awful and uncoordinated against Vegas. However, Josef Korenar got his second NHL start last night and made some important saves to keep the Sharks in this one, stopping 35 of 39 shots against. There was some scrappiness in the first period, most of it between Brent Burns and Max Pacioretty. 

When it's all said and done, the Sharks don't and can't seem to match up well with the Vegas Golden Knights at all this season. As for their season finale, it has now been moved from Monday, May 10 to Wednesday, May 12. The last game between these two teams could be very meaningful or have little meaning; we'll have to find out once we get to that point in the season. In the meantime, the Sharks' next game is Saturday versus the Wild. This will be the first game in over a year that the Sharks will be playing in front of a live audience at SAP Center. Maybe playing in front of fans at home will help spark a fire inside the Sharks that this team desperately needs to get back into the win column.

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App