The Sharks continue to face more adversity and find ways to win as they take down the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 in arguably their biggest win of the season.
Before discussing the Sharks' unbelievable win over the Sabres, the increased adversity originated from leading scorer Timo Meier and lead trainer Ray Tufts being added to COVID protocol. On the bright side, Jonathan Dahlen has been released from COVID protocol and rejoined the Sharks roster yesterday afternoon. In addition, Joel Kellman and Artemi Kniazev were recalled from the Barracuda prior to last night's game.
Now onto the game itself: First things first, I should mention that there were just over 10,000 in attendance at the Tank, which is far from a sellout. I understand several reasons why this was the case, but with the way this game went, it deserved to have more butts in the seats. The man who most recently returned from COVID protocol, Jonathan Dahlen, puts the Sharks on the board first with his fourth goal of the season, with assists from William Eklund and Brent Burns. Soon after, Jeff Skinner scores a big one for the Sabres to tie it up at one. Later on in the first, the Sharks regain the lead on Ryan Merkley's first NHL goal, getting helpers from Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl. Ryan Merkley's mom and sisters were in attendance to witness his first NHL goal.
The second period saw Tomas Hertl score his first goal of the game, getting an assist from Rudolfs Balcers to extend the Sharks' lead to two. Buffalo then got within one via Drake Caggiula. In addition, Santeri Hatakka left the bench and headed into the dressing room with an undisclosed injury and did not return to the game.
In the first half of the third period, Mario Ferraro scores his first goal of the season to get the Sharks back to a two-goal lead, getting assists from Nick Merkley and Jasper Weatherby. About five minutes later, Tomas Hertl scores an absolute beauty for his second goal of the game for the Sharks' biggest lead of the night, with apples from Rudolfs Balcers and Mario Ferraro. With around two minutes remaining, Jeff Skinner scores his second goal of the game to get the Sabres back within two, but it wasn't enough as the Sharks prevail yet again while having several players and team personnel on COVID protocol and new faces from the Barracuda.
James Reimer got the start in net and was solid yet again, stopping 25 of 28 shots against.
Since this game was televised only on ESPN+, I listened to the game on the Sharks Audio Network alongside watching the Atlanta Braves clinch their first World Series in 26 years in a 7-0 shutout win in Game 6 over the Houston Astros. Back to the Sharks-Sabres game, the Sharks pulled off another incredible, unbelievable victory in the most unlikely of circumstances. This Sharks team continues to amaze me as this season progresses. Tomas Hertl needs to be signed to a long-term extension as soon as possible.
San Jose has improved its record to 6-3-0. Last season, it took 24 games for the Sharks to get to six wins, and I love that it has now taken less that half that amount of games to reach that mark. Team Teal's next game is tomorrow, hosting the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 pm PT.
Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App
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