Sharks 2022-23 Game 39 Recap: Sharks 5, Blackhawks 2 (1/1/23)

 The Sharks ring in the new year by snapping their three game skid against the bottom-feeding Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. 

It feels great for the Sharks to finally win, especially against the cellar-dwelling teams below them that they have to beat. The scoring in this one didn't begin until the second period, when the Blackhawks tallied the first two goals of the game via Patrick Kane and Sam Lafferty. The Sharks followed the first two by the Blackhawks up with five unanswered goals of their own. Three of those five came in a 3:26 span late in the second period, starting with a tip-in that was credited to Jonah Gadjovich for his second goal of the season, with assists from Oskar Lindblom and Erik Karlsson. EK65 now has a point in 13 straight games, setting a new Sharks franchise record. The next one was scored by Marc-Eduoard Vlasic for his first goal of the season in his 1,200th NHL game, with assists from Matt Benning and Logan Couture. Vlasic's goal was reviewed by the NHL situation room to determine if there was a distinct kicking motion, but the goal stood after the league officials determined that it was directed in, not kicked in. The third Sharks goal scored before the end of the second period was by Alexander Barabanov for his sixth of the year from Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson. 

The last two of the Sharks' five unanswered goals came in the third period, picking back up with Timo Meier's 21st goal of the year from Tomas Hertl and Scott Harrington early in the period. Lastly, Evgeny Svechnikov topped off the Sharks' scoring barrage late in the third with his fourth goal of the year from Nick Bonino and Oskar Lindblom. 

Kaapo Kahkonen received the start in net in the second game of this back-to-back set and had a great performance, recording 20 saves and getting better as of late. 

Team Teal got the job done against a struggling Blackhawks team that has found themselves at the bottom of the NHL league standings as they should. Hopefully the Sharks can show up with similar efforts more consistently against better teams, especially ones that the Sharks aren't favored against and playoff-caliber teams. The Sharks have the next four days off before their next game on Friday in Anaheim against the Ducks at 7 pm PT exclusively on ESPN+. 

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

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