After what seemed like it wouldn't be possible around a month or two months ago, I was finally able to attend my third NHL game Tuesday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim with a buddy of mine. It also happened to be my first Sharks road game and first game at the Honda Center. It wasn't the result I wanted, but my friend and I were certainly in for a treat.
The time my friend and I got to the arena was around when its doors first opened to the public. It was super chilly and raining lightly as he and I got out of his car and began walking to the Honda Center. Right as we got in the arena, we hit up the Ducks team store to look around. It looked pretty cool inside, and I ended up buying a box of Upper Deck 2021-22 MVP Hockey cards. I opened the box I bought when I got home from the trip the following day, and the best pull from that box were two mascot cards of the Sharks' mascot, S.J. Sharkie.
Our seats were located in the lower bowl towards the end of the ice where the Sharks shot from during the first and third periods. The view was amazing from there, and it certainly helped to upgrade my seats from the ones that were initially free from the ticket offer I stumbled across back in November.
My friend and I moved closer to the Sharks' end of the ice and their side of the bench ahead of warmups. Being incredibly close to the Sharks players I have been watching and keeping up with all season while they warm up was absolutely unreal and one of the best parts of my experience at this game.
As for the actual game itself, it was quite entertaining. The Sharks didn't get the start they wanted as Derek Grant of the Ducks scored the first goal of the game early in the first period on a 2-on-0 chance with Sam Carrick and poor coverage on defense from the Sharks. About a minute later, the first penalty of the game was drawn by the Sharks, which was a high-sticking by Simon Benoit against Matt Nieto. The Sharks tie the game at one at the 7:10 mark of the first period on Logan Couture's first goal of the game, which was buried in up front from the initial pass from Brent Burns. With about two and a half minutes remaining in the first period, Brent Burns launches a rocket from near the blue line for his first goal since January 2 to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead. Matt Nieto and Timo Meier were credited with the assists on the Brent Burns go-ahead goal late in the first. Moments later, I witnessed my first-ever fight at a live hockey game, which went down between Jonah Gadjovich and Nicolas Deslauriers. It was very exciting to see Gadjovich and Deslauriers drop the gloves, especially since I had previously never seen a hockey fight in person before Tuesday night. This was the main reason why the former was in the lineup instead of Jonathan Dahlen.
In addition, before the end of the first period, Rudolfs Balcers took a hard hit by Rickard Rakell and was down for a little bit, but he was able to get up, remain in the game, and do just fine.
Seven minutes into the second period, Rickard Rakell ties the game at two on his first goal of the game from Trevor Zegras and Cam Fowler. Speaking of Trevor Zegras, he is definitely one player on the Ducks that has stood out to me all season long in the best way possible. He should definitely win the Calder Trophy this season for the top rookie, especially if he pulled off the lacrosse assist and lacrosse goal in two separate games earlier in the season.
The second period also began with Alexander Barabanov taking two penalties, the first one for hooking early in the second and the second one for delay of game (puck over glass) a bit later. The two Barabanov penalties were followed by the Sharks drawing a double minor for a high stick by Hampus Lindholm against Radim Simek. This allowed the Sharks to regain their one-goal lead on Logan Couture's second goal of the game, in which he grabbed the rebound from Brent Burns' shot, found a hole on Anthony Stolarz, and put it in on the backhand. This marks Burnzie's second assist of the game, while Timo Meier was credited with the secondary assist on that play.
A few minutes later, Rickard Rakell ties the game for the Ducks at three with his second goal of the game, which was assisted by Adam Henrique.
Timo Meier and Noah Gregor both had some Grade-A chances in front of the net during the second period, but couldn't capitalize on any of those chances.
There were a few more penalties towards the end of the second and during the third period, starting with a tough one against Nick Bonino for hooking and another hooking call, this time against Simon Benoit of the Ducks. In the later half of the third, Radim Simek laid Troy Terry hard into the boards, with Terry down for a bit and a scrum ensuing. Simek was called for boarding, but there wasn't much he could do about that.
The third period remained scoreless, forcing overtime. This was where anxiety and tension began to creep up a bit. Shortly into the OT period, the Sharks were given a 4-on-3 man advantage on a holding call against Jakob Silfverberg. OT almost ended in complete disaster for the Sharks with Noah Gregor almost getting fully undressed on defense, but the Sharks survived to get to the shootout.
When it came to the shootout, the Sharks rolled with Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, while the Ducks went with Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, and Rickard Rakell. Zegras set the tone for the shootout with a goal on the first attempt. Cooch and Hertl weren't successful on their shootout attempts, but all that was needed for the Ducks to win in the shootout was Rickard Rakell's successful attempt. This could technically be seen as a hat trick by Rakell, but it isn't counted as such.
James Reimer made 26 saves on 29 shots against, while Anthony Stolarz made 40 saves on 43 shots against. In addition, this was Ryan Dzingel's first game with the Sharks after getting picked up on waivers on Monday. I though Dzingel was decent in his Sharks debut.
Despite getting a point in the shootout, the Sharks have now lost seven consecutive games. It would've felt worse had I not been in attendance and watched the game on TV at home.
Both teams were sloppy but played well enough to win. Games like this one make me wish that the NHL would abolish the shootout and play continuous 3-on-3 overtime until someone scores like in the playoffs. Besides Logan Couture's two goals and Brent Burns' one goal and two assists, other positive aspects of this game from the Sharks' perspective are out-shooting the Ducks 43-29, prevailing in the faceoff circle 61.2% to 38.8%, and generating more hits and blocks than the Ducks.
On my way out of the arena, I saw that the Ducks' TV network, Bally Sports So Cal, was filming their live postgame show and I had to lift my jersey up to show the Sharks logo in the background, earning my few seconds of fame. I thought it would be pretty funny to troll Ducks fans and the Ducks' TV network despite being on the wrong end of this game.
Luckily it wasn't raining as my friend and I were walking back from the Honda Center to the parking lot. If we had extra time, we would've tried to see Angel Stadium up close before the game, but due to heavy traffic hitting LA on the way there, my best view of Angel Stadium was from the freeway as we were about to exit to get to the Honda Center.
The Sharks are now 1-0-1 when I am at their games, with both games I have attended involving the Sharks ending in shootouts. Like I have previously mentioned on this site, I have a life goal of attending at least one game involving each of the 32 NHL teams and at every NHL arena. One team and one arena have been added to each of the lists of teams I've seen play in person and arenas I've been to, which consist of five teams (Sharks, Blackhawks, Kings, Stars, and Ducks) and three arenas (SAP Center, Crypto.com Arena a.k.a. former Staples Center, and Honda Center).
The Sharks return home to SAP Center for their next three games starting tonight against the New York Islanders at 7:30 pm PT. San Jose doesn't face the Ducks at the Pond again until Sunday, March 6 at 5 pm PT. If I am able to catch the rematch on March 6 on TV or radio, it will bring back so many great memories from this most recent game.
I would've preferred that the Sharks win and end their seven-game skid, but I had an absolute blast Tuesday night. It was a much-needed break from my typical daily routine, and I can't wait to attend my next NHL game whenever and wherever that may be.
Source: NHL App
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