Sharks 2022-23 Game 38 Recap: Stars 5, Sharks 2 (12/31/22)

 The Sharks close out the 2022 calendar year with their third straight loss, a 5-2 defeat to the Dallas Stars. 

The Sharks got off to a good start in this one, but most of the rest of the game in Dallas unsurprisingly didn’t go their way. That first goal in fact came early in the first period via Alexander Barabanov from Matt Benning and Erik Karlsson. This is Alexander Barabanov’s fifth goal of the season, and Erik Karlsson has extended his point streak to 12 games, tying a Sharks franchise record. About five minutes later, Joe Pavelski evened things up for the Stars by tipping one in on the power play. Shortly after, the Stars went ahead on a different power play chance, this time via Jason Robertson. This is what happens when the Sharks are undisciplined and can't stay out of the penalty box.

Radim Simek exited the game near the midway point of the first period due to what I believe to be an undisclosed injury. The Sharks tied the game at two in the second period on Oskar Lindblom's third goal of the season from Nico Sturm and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic. Soon after, an errant turnover by the Sharks led to Fredrik Olofsson scoring to put the Stars back on top. Joe Pavelski recorded two assists on the Stars' second and third goals of the game, bringing his total to three points in this contest against his former team. What an impressive performance by Pavelski, who still remains a favorite player of mine and one of my all-time favorite Sharks. 

Late in the third period, the Stars added on two more goals via a shorty from Roope Hintz and an empty-netter by Esa Lindell to win by three. 

James Reimer was back in net for the Sharks, recording 26 saves on 30 shots against in the losing effort. 

Team Teal is back in action tomorrow on New Year's Day, when they travel to Chicago to face the Blackhawks in the second game of a back-to-back at 4 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 37 Recap: Flyers 4, Sharks 3 (OT) (12/29/22)

 The Sharks had a 3-1 lead but blew that lead by allowing three unanswered goals as the Philadelphia Flyers win 4-3 in overtime. 

Team Teal could’ve easily won this in regulation, but they couldn’t hold it together in the third period and bonus hockey, resulting in a disappointing, stinging loss. The Sharks opened the scoring at the 9:38 mark of the first period on Tomas Hertl's 12th goal of the year from Erik Karlsson and Kevin Labanc. The Flyers tied things up 47 seconds later on a tip-in by Travis Konecny. The Sharks regained the lead in the second period on Tomas Hertl's 13th goal of the year and second goal of the game from Timo Meier and Logan Couture, making it 2-1 through two periods of play. 

Early in the third period, the Sharks extended their lead to two by Kevin Labanc going top corner for his seventh goal of the season from Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl. This now marks Erik Karlsson's 50th point this season, becoming the third-fastest defenseman in the NHL since 1975-76 to reach 50 points in a season, and Tomas Hertl's third point of the night. After the Sharks gained their two-goal lead early in the third, it all came crashing down from there. The Flyers lessened their deficit to one via Owen Tippett around the six-minute mark of the third. Joel Farabee crunched Kevin Labanc into the boards, knocking Kevin Labanc out of the game. After further review, Farabee was assessed a two-minute minor for boarding on that play. With about two minutes remaining in regulation, the Flyers tied the game at three on Travis Konecny's second goal of the game, which went off a few Sharks defenders to find the back of the net. 

This game ultimately had to be settled in overtime, in which Tony DeAngelo scores the game-winner on a 3-on-1 chance for the Flyers, completing the comeback for Philly. 

Kaapo Kahkonen was given the start in net, recording  saves. In all, Kahkonen has had less quality starts in net than James Reimer has had all season. In addition, Head coach David Quinn stated that Kevin Labanc is fine and good to go for the Sharks' next game after he was boarded by Joel Farabee late in the third. This will also be the last time the Sharks wear their Reverse Retro jerseys on the ice this season.

Like in several games this season, this was another matter of the Sharks 100 percent beating themselves. This was certainly a complete stinker and letdown, especially since I thought that the Sharks were going to win and should've won this in regulation. Next up, the Sharks travel to Dallas to face the Stars in their final game of the 2022 calendar year on Saturday at 5 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 36 Recap: Canucks 6, Sharks 2 (12/27/22)

 The Sharks drop their first game back from the Christmas break 6-2 to the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver. 

 Vancouver has had the Sharks’ number in recent seasons and especially this season, and this meeting between these two teams was no different. The Canucks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson. Luckily, the Sharks were able to get on the board with less than a minute remaining in the first period on Timo Meier’s 19th goal of the season from Erik Karlsson and Logan Couture on the power play. Timo Meier now has a five-game goal streak, while Erik Karlsson has extended his point streak to ten games, the longest for a Sharks defenseman.

Vancouver added two more goals in the second period via Ilya Mikheyev and Quinn Hughes. Right before the goal by Mikheyev, Matt Benning blocked a shot in the ankle, was in a lot of discomfort, and hasn’t played a shift since. The Canucks’ lead has been extended to three through two periods of play. 

The Canucks continue their trend of two goals per period in the third, starting with Bo Horvat’s second goal of the game. The Sharks answered back soon after via Timo Meier from Erik Karlsson again, lessening their deficit to three. This was Timo’s second goal of the game, 20th goal of the season, and 300th NHL point. Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson were practically the only ones to show up in this game for the Sharks. Vancouver finished this one off via Brock Boeser to regain their four-goal lead and sweep the season series with the Sharks 3-0-0. 

James Reimer recorded 19 saves on 25 shots against in the blowout loss. 

Besides individual efforts from Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson, the rest of the Sharks were lifeless and put in lackluster effort, leading to them getting blown out in their return from the Christmas break. This flat out stinks and needs to change. The Sharks return home for their next game on Thursday, hosting the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Minnesota Wild F Mason Shaw Suspended Two Games

 Here we bring you an update from the Sharks’ win over the Wild in their most recent game on Thursday: 

As a result of Wild F Mason Shaw kneeing Sharks F Evgeny Svechnikov in Thursday’s game in San Jose, the NHL Department of Player Safety held a hearing for the incident and has suspended Shaw for two games. The kneeing incident was a dirty, dangerous play that hurt Svechnikov pretty badly. Shaw was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the kneeing incident on Thursday. Luckily Svechnikov recovered from this and returned to the game, but it could’ve ended a lot worse than it did. 

In addition, I feel the two-game suspension for Mason Shaw is justified. It would be outrageous if Shaw received any less than two games, especially since Tomas Hertl, who had no prior disciplinary history before earlier this week, received two games for a high-sticking incident that was much less dangerous in comparison. If it was up to me, I would’ve thrown the book at Shaw for kneeing Svechnikov and handed him a harsher suspension and possibly a fine as well. Overall, despite its inconsistency with handling discipline in recent years, I’m happy the NHLDPS handled this specific incident the way it did. 

Source: NHL.com 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 35 Recap: Sharks 5, Wild 2 (12/22/22)

 The Sharks take advantage of a Minnesota Wild team that played the night before and was on a six-game win streak and snap their three-game skid with a 5-2 victory, heading into the Christmas break on a high note. 

The Sharks set the tone in this one from the get-go and seem to play some of their best hockey against the Wild as of late. Erik Karlsson scored the first goal of the game 44 seconds in on a nifty saucer pass from Jaycob Megna. Alexander Barabanov picked up the other assist on that first goal. The Wild tied it at one around two minutes later via Joel Eriksson Ek on a breakaway. During the later half of the first, Noah Gregor scored his second goal of the season to put the Sharks back ahead by one, with assists from Erik Karlsson and Matt Benning. 

During the later half of the second period, Matt Dumba hit Matt Nieto hard in the neutral zone, resulting in Jaycob Megna dropping the gloves with Dumba. Soon after, Mason Shaw caught Evgeny Svechnikov in the knee, badly hurting Svechnikov in the process and briefly knocking him out of the game. Not only did Shaw receive a five-minute major for that dirty play, he was also given a game misconduct. Fortunately, Svechnikov made it back out there for the third period but had his knee wrapped in ice after the game. Don't be shocked if Mason Shaw receives a suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for the kneeing incident. On the ensuing power play, the Sharks made the Wild pay with Timo Meier's 18th goal of the season from Erik Karlsson and Nick Bonino. The Sharks followed that up with Oskar Lindblom's second goal of the season from Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier to make it 4-1 late in the second. That brings EK65's total to four points (one goal, three assists) on the night, his third four-point game of the season, a nine-game point streak, and 46 points on the season. The Wild were able to sneak one into cut their deficit to two before the end of the second period, with that goal being credited to Mats Zuccarello. 

The Sharks topped this one off with 13.5 seconds remaining in the game with an empty-netter from Kevin Labanc for his eighth of the season. 

James Reimer was excellent in this one, recording 24 saves in the win. 

The Sharks needed this one after dropping their previous two to the Flames and got the job done. All areas of the Sharks' game were clicking, and this was a great win, heading into the Christmas break with a significant confidence boost. After the Christmas break, the Sharks travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks in their first game back on Tuesday at 7 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 34 Recap: Flames 7, Sharks 3 (12/20/22)

 The Sharks dug themselves a hole early on and climbed back in the second and third periods, only to dig themselves a deeper hole as they fall 7-3 to the Calgary Flames in the second consecutive game between these two teams. 

This Sharks team continues to give me false hope time and time again. The hole they dug themselves in early on was allowing two goals to the Flames in the first 30 seconds of the game via Tyler Toffoli and Dillon Dube respectively. Late in the first, the Sharks got back in it with a goal from Nico Sturm, with the assist from Timo Meier. Soon after, before the end of the first period, Nico Sturm and Brett Ritchie fought in Sturm's attempt to stand up for Marc-Eduoard Vlasic, who got ran over by Ritchie prior to the fight. This was only the second fight of Nico Sturm's NHL career.

 Around the halfway point of the second period, Trevor Lewis extends the Flames' lead to two. The Sharks got back within one right before the second intermission on Alexander Barabanov's fourth goal of the season from Scott Harrington and Matt Nieto. 

A few minutes into the third, Timo Meier tied the game at three with his 17th goal of the year, getting an assist from Erik Karlsson. It was impressive that Team Teal erased their deficit early in the third, but things only went downhill from there. The Flames regained their lead at around the ten-minute mark via Nazem Kadri, then proceeded to allow Milan Lucic to score his second goal of the year during the second half of the third. Both of Lucic's goals this season came in the past two games against the Sharks. The Flames then added two more goals in the last few minutes via an empty-netter from Tyler Toffoli and Nazem Kadri's second of the game 20 seconds after the empty-netter. 

James Reimer performed better than what his stats indicated, making 32 saves and helping keep the Sharks in this one for most of it. To make matters worse, Tomas Hertl was suspended two games for high-sticking Elias Lindholm during Sunday's game and won't be able to return until after the Christmas break, and Luke Kunin underwent successful surgery to repair a torn ACL, ending his season. However, the return of Mario Ferraro from injury helped soften the blow of the Sharks' current predicament. 

Although they came back and tied it at one point, the Sharks could never fully recover from the two goals that the Flames scored in the first 30 seconds of this game, and I already had a bad feeling about this one after the news broke about Tomas Hertl and Luke Kunin. Team Teal plays one more game before the NHL Christmas break on Thursday, when they host the Minnesota Wild at 7:30 pm PT.

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group  

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 33 Recap: Flames 5, Sharks 2 (12/18/22)

 A disaster of an early third period, along with most areas of the Sharks’ game falling apart doomed Team Teal in the first of two consecutive home games against the Calgary Flames in a 5-2 defeat. 

As always, let’s begin with how this game started, in which the Sharks were right in it. During the first half of the first period, an errant turnover by Jaycob Megna led to Tyler Toffoli scoring the first goal of the game for the Flames. The Sharks answered back about four minutes later on a beauty of a play, with Erik Karlsson faking a shot and making a slick pass to Timo Meier, who buries it for his 16th goal of the year on the power play to even it at one. In addition, Erik Karlsson recorded his 40th point of the season and 700th career point, becoming the fastest in Sharks franchise history to reach 40 points in a season and the fastest active defenseman in the NHL to reach 700 career points (871 games). Tomas Hertl recorded the other assist on this equalizer.

The Flames went ahead 2-1 at around the six-minute mark of the second period via Milan Lucic. About five minutes later, Jonah Gadjovich and Dan Gilbert dropped the gloves and went at it. This fight was coordinated between the two earlier in the period, with both players trading blow after blow. It was a right hook by Gadjovich that knocked out Gilbert in a nice, solid tilt between the two, with Gilbert heading to the dressing room for repairs afterwards. 

The first few minutes of the third period was when disaster struck. Seconds into the start of the third, Elias Lindholm scored two goals seconds apart. The first of the two goals by Lindholm was scored on the Flames power play, while the second one came right after that power play ended. Around the two-minute mark of the third, Dillon Dube caught Kaapo Kahkonen in a vulnerable position outside of his crease and scored to put the Flames up 5-1. Soon after, David Quinn called timeout to have a brief team meeting on the bench. This timeout helped this Sharks team get their act together to an extent, but the damage had already been done. Team Teal was able to get one back to cut their deficit to three on the power play via Tomas Hertl's 11th goal of the year from Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson. Moments before the end of this game, Evgeny Svechnikov took a high stick to the face and had to head to the dressing room for repairs. 

Kaapo Kahkonen was given the start in the second game of this back-to-back set and wasn't that great, making 20 saves and giving up five goals. Before this game, the Sharks had activated Matt Nieto off the IR and transferred Luke Kunin to the IR in place of Nieto. 

This game had some highlight-reel moments, but otherwise it sucked. The Sharks and Flames face each other again at SAP Center on Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT, in which the Sharks will try to earn a split in this particular two-game set. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022 Game 32 Recap: Kings 3, Sharks 2 (SO) (12/17/22)

 This was a neck-and-neck game between the Sharks and Kings, but it was the LA Kings that ultimately prevailed in the shootout 3-2. 

Early in the first period, Radim Simek was penalized for tripping, setting up a power play for the Kings that allowed Philip Danault to score the first goal of the game. The Sharks evened things up later in the first on the power play via Timo Meier's 15th goal of the year from Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson. Late in the second period, the Sharks went ahead 2-1 on Kevin Labanc's seventh goal of the season, with Timo Meier picking up the assist on the Sharks' second goal for his second point of the night, only for the the Kings to tie it again about a minute after via Jaret Anderson-Dolan. That Labanc goal was amazing, taking the great feed from Timo launching one via the slapshot to find the back of the net.

This contest was tied at two through the third period to force overtime and a shootout. Both of the Sharks' and Kings' first two shootout attempts went for not, but both teams made up for it on their next attempts via Kevin Fiala and Kevin Labanc to keep the shootout going. The difference-maker in the skills competition was Trevor Moore, who scored in round seven, while Alexander Barabanov failed to score in round eight to give the Kings the extra point in this one.

James Reimer had an outstanding performance in net, recording 39 saves, only for the Sharks to let that go to waste in the shootout. 

The end result sucked, and this is one of those games that make a solid case for the NHL to do away with the shootout in the future. What made this loss feel worse was that it was in the hands of one of their biggest, most hated rivals. Next up, the Sharks return home to face the Calgary Flames tonight in the second game of a back-to-back set at 7 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App  

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 31 Recap: Sharks 3, Coyotes 2 (12/13/22)

 The Sharks hold on to win their second straight, beating the Arizona Coyotes 3-2. 

It's great to see this Sharks team string together a set of consecutive wins. Team Teal got things going early in the first period when Tomas Hertl tipped in a shot from Radim Simek for his tenth goal of the season. Scott Harrington recorded the other assist on the first goal by Hertl. Soon after, Nick Bonino scored his fourth goal of the year and his fourth in four games to extend the Sharks' lead to two. Jonah Gadjovich and Erik Karlsson assisted on the second goal by Bonino. In addition, Luke Kunin sustained a lower body injury in the first period and did not return. Before the end of the first period, the Coyotes got on the board with a power play goal from Logan Crouse. 

Around the eight-minute mark of the second period, the Sharks regained their two-goal lead via Nico Sturm after he picked up the rebound from the initial shot by Scott Harrington. Nick Bonino picked up the other assist on the third goal by Sturm, with both Bonino and Harrington each recording two points on the night. Arizona attempted to mount a comeback early in the third period, getting within one on a goal from Nick Bjugstad, but the Sharks ultimately held on to win this one, another game that they should and need to win. 

James Reimer has been activated off the IR and was back in net, recording 20 saves in the win. Another notable feat in this one was that Sharks TV play-by-play announcer Randy Hahn called his 2,000th game, which is remarkable for such a legendary broadcaster and one of the best in sports. 

Team Teal has the next three days off before they face the Kings in LA in their next game on Saturday at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 30 Recap: Sharks 6, Ducks 1 (12/9/22)

 The Sharks get a huge and much-needed win in Anaheim, taking advantage of a terrible Ducks team 6-1. 

Team Teal was in full control from the get-go and came in firing on all cylinders. They struck first around the halfway mark of the first period via Timo Meier tipping in a shot from Erik Karlsson for his 14th goal of the season, tying Logan Couture for the team lead in goals. Tomas Hertl picked up the other assist on this first goal.

 Early in the second period, Scott Harrington scored his first goal of the year and his first as a Shark from Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier to make it 2-0. In addition, Kevin Labanc earned his 200th NHL point on this play. A few minutes later, Erik Karlsson scores his 12th goal of the season on the power play from Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl to extend the Sharks' lead to three. Nico Sturm followed that up eight seconds later with his seventh goal of the year from Matt Benning to make it 4-0, catching John Gibson mostly outside the crease in a vulnerable position. The Ducks potted their only goal of the game about a minute-and-a-half after they found themselves in a four-goal deficit via Trevor Zegras, who has been one of Anaheim's only bright spots this season thus far. 

Team Teal added two more late in the third via an empty-netter from Nick Bonino for his third of the year and Steven Lorentz's third of the year. Marc-Eduoard Vlasic and Matt Benning assisted on the Bonino empty-netter, while Evgeny Svechnikov and Alexander Barabanov assisted on the latter of these two by Lorentz. Soon after, frustrations boiled over for the Ducks, ultimately resulting in a fight between Jonah Gadjovich and Sam Carrick. 

Eetu Makiniemi received his first NHL start, recording 23 saves in the huge win over the Ducks and becoming the youngest goalie in Sharks history to earn his first win in his first start at 23 years of age. The Sharks should consider keeping Makiniemi around and starting him in more games, but that may make for difficult decisions ahead once James Reimer is ready to return from injury. 

The Sharks took advantage of a team that is doing worse than them and that they should be able to beat, and man that felt great. This team needs more games and confidence boosters like this one this season. San Jose doesn't play again until Tuesday, when they host the Arizona Coyotes for the first time this season at 7:30 pm PT.

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 29 Recap: Canucks 6, Sharks 5 (OT) (12/7/22)

 The Sharks and Canucks engaged in a high-scoring affair and traded great chances, but the Canucks had the last laugh as they took care of business in overtime 6-5 over the Sharks. 

The Sharks got things going 18 seconds in with a redirect by Nick Bonino on a shot from Matt Benning. Logan Couture was credited with the assist on the first goal. The Canucks tie it at one at the 4:15 mark of the first on Dakota Joshua's first goal of the game. Soon after, Dakota Joshua goes after Radim Simek and fights him after Simek pinned Nils Aman to the boards. Dakota Joshua snuck in his second goal of the game on the power play right before the end of the first period to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead through one period of play. 

Nils Hoglander scored early in the second period to extend the Canucks' lead to two. The Sharks got one back about six minutes later on Timo Meier's 13th goal of the year from Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl on the man advantage. Vancouver answered back 33 seconds later on Dakota Joshua completing the hat trick, but it was challenged for goalie interference and overturned. About three-and-a-half minutes later, Logan Couture tied the game at three on the breakaway on a cross-ice pass from Jaycob Megna while shorthanded. This was also the Sharks' first shorthanded goal of the year and Logan Couture's team-leading 14th goal of the year. Like in the first period, the Sharks allowed another go-ahead late-period goal in the second period, this time to Ilya Mikheyev to make it 4-3 Canucks through two periods of play. 

Kaapo Kahkonen was pulled before the start of the third period after recording 15 saves on 19 shots against in favor of Eetu Makiniemi, who was recently called up from the Barracuda and made his NHL debut, which was kinda unexpected. The Sharks tied the game at four early in the third period on Jonah Gadjovich's first goal of the season. Later on in the third, Kevin Labanc went top shelf on a pass from Tomas Hertl to give the Sharks a 5-4 lead, with Erik Karlsson picking up the other assist on that goal. Roughly four-and-a-half minutes later, Andrei Kuzmenko tied the game at five on a late power play goal to force overtime. 

A series of great stops were made in OT between Eetu Makiniemi and Spencer Martin until Elias Pettersson scored the game-winner with 34.7 seconds remaining in that bonus period. 

Makiniemi made six saves and gave up two goals in his NHL debut in relief of Kaapo Kahkonen. In addition, Matt Nieto was placed on the IR with an undisclosed injury, Nico Sturm was activated off the IR, and C.J. Suess was called up from the Barracuda and made his Sharks debut in this game against the Canucks. 

The Sharks played fairly well in this one, and things could've easily gone their way entirely, but turnovers are the main thing that cost them in this one. Team Teal remains stuck at two home wins on the season thus far, and I don't have a lot of hope in this club right now after yet another disappointing loss. Next up, the Sharks will take a quick road trip down to Orange County to face the Anaheim Ducks in their next game on Friday at 7 pm PT, which will air exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 28 Recap: Sabres 6, Sharks 3 (12/4/22)

 The Sharks extend their losing skid to three, as they fall to the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 to finish their current road trip with a 1-3-0 record. 

This one went similarly to yesterday’s game against the Senators. In addition, Team Teal seemed uncoordinated and burnt out as well. Tage Thompson scored the first goal of the game for the Sabres on the man advantage towards the halfway mark of the first period. The Sharks answered back about four minutes later on Nick Bonino's first goal of the year from Luke Kunin and Erik Karlsson. Kevin Labanc followed that up with his fifth goal of the season on the power play from Matt Benning and Matt Nieto to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead through one period of play, their first and only lead of the night. 

Another trend that has occurred all too often with this Sharks team is only showing up for one period and disappearing for the rest of the game. It only took 16 seconds into the second period for the Sabres to tie the game via J.J. Peterka. Following this game-tying goal, Rasmus Dahlin leveled Matt Nieto in a huge hit as Nieto entered the Sabres' zone and was getting closer to the Buffalo net. Still early in the second period, Jeff Skinner scored the go-ahead goal for the Sabres, capitalizing on an untimely collision in the crease between Aaron Dell and Nick Cicek. Later on in the second, Jack Quinn scored his first goal of the game on the power play for the Sabres to extend Buffalo's lead to two. 

Buffalo wasn't done yet; Jack Quinn tallied his second goal of the game in the later half of the third period to extend their lead to three. Oskar Lindblom got one back for the Sharks seconds later with his first goal of the season from Marc-Eduoard Vlasic and Logan Couture. The Sabres sealed the deal with about three-and-a-half minutes to go with an empty-netter from Alex Tuch to restore their three-goal lead. 

Aaron Dell made 32 saves in only his second start of the season for the Sharks. 

After the first game of this last road trip in Montreal, a lot has gone wrong for the Sharks. Also, the Sharks had one of the top penalty kill units in the NHL with around a 91 percent kill rate for much of this season, but that fell significantly to around 44 percent during the past two games of this road trip; not good. Team Teal will return home and have two days to recover from their past three games before they face the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 27 Recap: Senators 5, Sharks 2 (12/3/22)

 The Sharks led through one period, but the defense had yet another meltdown as they fall 5-2 to the Senators in Ottawa. 

It started out well with a great first period from the Sharks. Tomas Hertl scored two goals, with the first one around the seven-and-a-half minute mark on the power play and the second one around the 11-minute mark. Alexander Barabanov and Timo Meier assisted on the first Hertl goal, while Erik Karlsson and Kevin Labanc assisted on the second Hertl goal. The Senators scored their first goal of the game in between the two goals by Tomas Hertl in the first period via Brady Tkacuk on the man advantage. 

The trend of only showing up for one period and not the entire game is all too common with this Sharks team, and this was no different during the second and third periods against the Senators in Ottawa. Jonah Gadjovich and Mark Kastelic dropped the gloves and fought early in the second period as an attempt at redemption form the last time these two teams played each other this season in San Jose. Claude Giroux tied things at two early in the second period, while Tim Stutzle scored the go-ahead goal late in the second on the power play. 

Not only did the Sharks defense fall apart during the second and third periods, this team also took some dumb penalties and had to play catch-up as a result. The Senators added two more goals in the third period via Thomas Chabot early in the period on the man advantage and Claude Giroux's second goal of the game late in the period. 

Kaapo Kahkonen received the start in net against the Senators, making 34 saves while the rest of the Sharks couldn't do much to bail him out. 

Besides the two goals from Tomas Hertl in the first period, this game was awful. I'm getting sick of games like these, but I don't expect anything less from this year's team. My confidence in the 2022-23 Sharks has been shot once more and I've had enough, but I will continue to remain stuck in this toxic relationship because I know things will eventually improve. The Sharks conclude their current road trip in Buffalo against the Sabres on Sunday in the second game of a back-to-back set at 4 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 26 Recap: Maple Leafs 3, Sharks 1 (11/30/22)

 The Sharks follow up their shutout win over the Canadiens with a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second game of a back-to-back set. 

I'm not shocked that this game went the way it did. The Leafs opened the scoring early in the second period via Auston Matthews, while the Sharks answered back a few minutes later on Matt Nieto's sixth goal of the season from Logan Couture and Nick Cicek to tie it at one through two periods of play. The Leafs capitalized on this one late in the third period with two goals minutes apart via Pierre Engvall and an empty-netter from Mitch Marner. The latter of these last two goals by Mitch Marner tied a Leafs franchise-record 18-game point streak. 

Aaron Dell received the start in net and made his season debut for the Sharks, recording 29 saves. 

They were in it for most of the game, but crucial mistakes down the stretch are what doomed the Sharks in this one. Team Teal has two days to think about this one and regroup before making the next stop on their current road trip in Ottawa against the Senators on Saturday at 4 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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