Sharks 2021-22 Game 44 Recap: Panthers 5, Sharks 4 (OT) (1/29/22)

 The Sharks set the tone early, but blew their lead late in the game as they fell to the Florida Panthers 5-4 in overtime. 

Despite how great the Panthers are this season, Team Teal made things interesting to say the least. San Jose scores the first goal of the game in the first period via Tomas Hertl, with Rudolfs Balcers assisting on the play. The Sharks extended their lead to two late in the first on the power play on Jonathan Dahlen's first goal of the game, which was an absolute sniper with assists from Noah Gregor and Nick Bonino. The Panthers get on the board a few minutes later with about a minute remaining in the first period on a goal from Gustav Forsling. On the other hand, Mario Ferraro had to exit the game in the first period and is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury. 

The Sharks get back to a two-goal lead in the second period on Matt Nieto's fourth goal of the season. Nick Bonino picked up his second assist of the night, while Marc-Eduoard Vlasic picked up the secondary assist on the Nieto goal. 

The final frame was when the Panthers came back and demonstrated how great they are this season. Aleksander Barkov scored early in the final frame to get Florida within one. The Sharks regained their two-goal lead early in the third on the man advantage on Jonathan Dahlen's second goal of the game and eleventh goal of the season. Nick Bonino recorded his third assist of the game while Brent Burns was credited with the primary assist on Dahlen's second goal of the game. The Panthers answered back with two goals towards the midway point of the third by Mason Marchment and Jonathan Huberdeau to tie the game at four and force OT. It only took about a minute into overtime for Sam Bennett to score the game-winner and complete the Panthers' comeback against the Sharks.

One of the biggest factors that kept the Sharks in this game for the most part was James Reimer, who made a total of 45 saves, some of which were incredible. Since Joe Thornton is now on the Panthers' roster, it only made sense for him to be in their lineup against his former team. 

San Jose can't be too upset with this one since the Panthers were a difficult opponent and perform incredibly well at home this season. The Sharks' next stop on their current road trip is in Raleigh where they face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second game of a back-to-back set this afternoon at 2 pm PT. 

Source: NHL App