The Sharks have dropped their fourth straight game and third straight in the shootout to close out their current homestand, a 5-4 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Like the last few games, this was another close one that was winnable for the Sharks, but they let it slip away. They had a lead in the third period but continue to allow goals late in the third period to force bonus hockey and find ways to shoot themselves in the foot. Before diving into how this all happened, I must begin with how this game started. Kevin Labanc opened the scoring for the Sharks in the first period with his second goal of the season, with assists from Timo Meier and Matt Benning. It had found the back of the net after going off John Klingberg's stick. Soon after, Jonah Gadjovich and Nathan Beaulieu dropped the gloves and fought. Later in the first, the Ducks scored the next two goals via Brett Leason and Max Comtois to go up 2-1 through one period of play.
Towards the middle of the second period, Timo Meier scored his fifth goal of the season to tie it at two, with Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl picking up assists. The Sharks went ahead late in the second on a tip-in by Luke Kunin on a shot from Tomas Hertl on the power play. Kevin Labanc picked up the secondary assist on the Kunin go-ahead goal. The Ducks challenged it for offsides, but the goal stood.
The Sharks extended their lead to two towards the middle of the third period on Tomas Hertl's second goal of the season, with Timo Meier being credited with the lone assist on this goal. Team Teal should've won this game in regulation at this point, but like in the previous game, they couldn't hold it together late in regulation, allowing two late-period goals by Mason McTavish and Adam Henrique to tie the game at four and force bonus hockey.
Anaheim set the tone for the shootout in round two with off-pace, fake-out moves by Trevor Zegras that completely fooled James Reimer, resulting in a goal. As for the Sharks, Kevin Labanc and Nick Bonino made their shootout attempts in the third and fifth rounds. However, Mason McTavish scored right after Bones to keep this game going. The real difference-maker in the shootout was Adam Henrique's attempt in the tenth round to win it for the Ducks, resulting in another disappointing defeat for Team Teal.
James Reimer had arguably his worst performance in net Saturday night making 21 saves on 25 shots against and letting in some softies.
On a more positive note, the Sharks are on a three-game point streak and seem to be getting better as the season progresses, but can't finish late in games and take the next step to win games. Tomas Hertl had a three-point night and Erik Karlsson continues his point streak, but these great performances continue to go to waste by the Sharks finding ways to lose nearly every time. This is getting ridiculous. San Jose doesn't play again until Thursday, when they begin their next road trip in St. Louis to face the Blues at 5 pm PT.
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App
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