Sharks 2022-23 Game 11 Recap: Lightning 4, Sharks 3 (10/29/22)

 The Sharks lose in the last minute of regulation to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3. 

Team Teal put up a solid effort and made things close throughout the entire game, but the Bolts maintained control and were the better, more skilled team. The Lightning opened the scoring 32 seconds in via Victor Hedman, and the two teams would alternate scoring goals from there. Soon after, Erik Karlsson would tie the game at one with his first goal of the game. The lone assist on the Sharks' first goal of the game would go to Tomas Hertl. Much later in the first period, the Lightning went ahead 2-1 before the first intermission via Ross Colton. 

Early in the second period, the Sharks knotted it at two via Nico Sturm, who is looking like a sneaky good pickup for the Sharks during this past offseason. Assisting on the Sharks' second goal were Luke Kunin and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic. Towards the end of the middle frame, Alex Killorn put Tampa back up by one to make it 3-2 through two periods of play. 

Things picked back up early in the third as Erik Karlsson scores his second goal of the game on the power play. Tomas Hertl picked up his second helper of the day, while Timo Meier picked up the other helper on EK65's second goal of the game. Erik Karlsson has been on a tear so far this season and now leads the NHL in points among defensemen with 11 and goals among defensemen with 6. With 57 seconds remaining in regulation, Nikita Kucherov put any comeback effort from the Sharks to bed with the game-winning goal for the Lightning. 

James Reimer was in net for the Sharks in their afternoon match against the Bolts, recording 22 saves on 26 shots against. 

In addition, Nick Bonino was back in the lineup after missing the past few games due to an upper-body injury. 

This loss wasn't entirely the Sharks' fault. In fact, they played pretty well, but the end result doesn't surprise me one bit. It's awesome to see Erik Karlsson get off to a hot start this season and return to vintage form; hopefully he stays healthy, doesn't regress, and keeps up his current scoring pace. Next up, the Sharks face the Anaheim Ducks for the first time this season on Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, Sharks Audio Network, NHL App

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