The same theme occurred today as in their previous game: great first period, collapse in the second period, and unable to produce anything significant for the remainder of the game. However, the result was worse for the Sharks in this one, as they would lose 8-3 to the Washington Capitals to close out their current homestand.
The Sharks have started this one off with a bang, as they have built another 2-0 lead in the first period like in their previous game, this time with goals from Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov. Assists on the first goal by Hertl went to Erik Karlsson and William Eklund. This broke a significant goal-less drought for Hertl, while Eklund registered his first point of the season in his season debut with the Sharks. Assists on the second goal by Barabanov went to Logan Couture and Andreas Johnsson.
Things fully unraveled for Team Teal after the first period, allowing the Capitals to score four goals in each of the second and third periods. Washington got goals from Craig Smith, Nic Aube-Kubel, Matt Irwin, and another from Craig Smith to take a 4-2 lead through two periods of play. The Caps then added one from T.J. Oshie, two from Alex Ovechkin, and one from Dylan Strome in the third period to take complete control of this game.
Early in the third period, Sharks head coach David Quinn was ejected after arguing a penalty call for clipping on Kevin Labanc and losing his cool in the process. This marks the first time in several years that a head coach got ejected from an NHL game, and David Quinn may face additional discipline from the NHL regarding this incident. I give credit to Quinn for sticking up for his team no matter what and will continue to side with him regarding his beef with the officials. In addition, Radim Simek left the game early in the third period due to injury concern. The only other goal that the Sharks were able to muster up was via Nico Sturm from Noah Gregor and Erik Karlsson at around the nine-minute mark of the final frame. The third and last goal scored by the Sharks in this one also set a career-best for Nico Sturm with 21 points this season.
Kaapo Kahkonen received the start in net in the Sharks' current homestand finale, recording a total of 22 saves.
Overall, what a complete joke this Sharks team is this year at this point in the season. They have only accumulated one win on their most recent homestand, which was the game I was in attendance for, and remain stuck at six home wins this season. On top of that, the Sharks are the only team in the NHL to have single-digit home wins this season, which is embarrassing. In addition, it would be great to see William Eklund remain on the Sharks roster for as long as possible, but I wouldn't be shocked if they decide to send him back down to the Barracuda after a set amount of games between now and the end of the season for whatever reason. I understand the whole "Tank for Bedard" narrative surrounding this Sharks team, but they need to get some wins under their belts with under 20 games left in their season purely from a confidence standpoint. Next up, the Sharks hit the road for three games against Central Division teams, starting on Monday in Winnipeg against the Jets at 4:30 pm PT.
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via Twitter
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