The Sharks had a great third period with an incredible comeback effort, but a last minute goal by the Panthers in regulation to force OT and bad luck in the skills competition leads to the Sharks finding another way to lose, a 4-3 heartbreaking shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
Here we have another winnable game that Team Teal lets slip away. Early in the first period, Luke Kunin received a match penalty and was ejected after laying a hit on Patric Hornqvist in which Kunin's shoulder made contact with Hornqvist's chin. This will automatically go to a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety, and I anticipate that this will result in a one or two game suspension for Kunin. The Panthers scored first late in the first on a goal from Aleksander Barkov to take a 1-0 lead through one period of play.
The Panthers extended their lead to two late in the second period on a goal by Radko Gudas. A boarding call against Gudas on Timo Meier with about seven seconds remaining in the second period along with a delay of game/puck over glass against Gustav Forsling early in the third set up a 5-on-3 for the Sharks that allowed Timo Meier to score his fourth goal of the season to get the Sharks on the board and cut the Sharks' deficit to one. Alexander Barabanov and Erik Karlsson picked up the assists on the Sharks first goal of the game on the two-man advantage. Five and a half minutes later, Erik Karlsson further continues his hot start by scoring his tenth goal of the season, tying the game at two. EK65's ten goals in the first 13 games of the season now sets a post-WWII record for an NHL defenseman. Nick Bonino was credited with the lone assist on Erik Karlsson's tenth goal of the season. About five minutes later, the Sharks took their first lead of the night on Matt Benning's first goal of the season, stringing together three unanswered goals for Team Teal in the third period. Erik Karlsson picks up his second helper of the game and his third point of the night, while Logan Couture is credited with the secondary assist on the Matt Benning goal. This should've been good enough for the Sharks to win this one, but as mentioned at the beginning of this post, they let this one slip away in typical Sharks fashion. With about 1:22 remaining in regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scores to tie the game at three for the Panthers to send the game to an extra period. In addition Matthew Tkachuk had a three-point night for the Panthers with three assists in this game.
During the OT period, the Sharks took their first minor penalty of the night, which was for too many men on the ice, but luckily it wasn't a complete death blow for them. However, it took four rounds of the shootout to decide this one, with Sam Reinhart scoring on his attempt to give the Panthers the extra point and the victory.
James Reimer was solid in net and made several clutch stops in the shootout loss, recording a total of 41 saves.
The Sharks should've won this game in regulation after their third consecutive goal in the third period. However, after Florida tied the game late in the third, I had a sense of impending doom that the Sharks would find another way to lose, and I was right. Another great effort by the Sharks offense has been overshadowed and wasted by another disappointing loss. San Jose will try to improve and redeem themselves in their next game on Saturday, facing the Anaheim Ducks for the second time this week to close out their current homestand. Puck drop for Saturday's game is at 7 pm PT.
Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App
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