Sharks 2022-23 Game 68 Recap: Blue Jackets 6, Sharks 5 (OT) (3/14/23)

 The Sharks had some great moments in this one, but they still can’t find the win column as the Columbus Blue Jackets would prevail 6-5 in overtime. 

That was one hell of a game regardless of the final outcome. The Sharks got off to a great start in the first period on the power play on Alexander Barabanov's 14th goal of the year from Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl. However, Team Teal began to fizzle out later in the opening period, allowing the Blue Jackets to tie it up on Johnny Gaudreau's first goal of the game. 

Early in the second period, Columbus gained their first lead of the night, going up by two on goals by Kent Johnson and Boone Jenner. At around the ten-and-a-half-minute mark of the middle frame, William Eklund scored his first NHL goal to get the Sharks within one. Derrick Pouliot recorded his first point as a Shark with the primary assist on Eklund's first NHL goal, while Tomas Hertl picked up the secondary assist on that same goal. This is a huge milestone for the Sharks' top rookie, and I also consider this to be the biggest highlight of the night for Team Teal. Both teams continued to trade scoring chances late in the second, with Boone Jenner scoring his second goal of the game to regain the Jackets' two-goal lead and Logan Couture getting the Sharks back within one in the last second of the second period on his 24th goal of the year from Erik Karlsson and Derrick Pouliot. 

Early in the third period, the Blue Jackets regain their two-goal lead via Liam Foudy. From this point forward in the third, the Sharks gained more momentum with Kevin Labanc scoring his 11th goal of the year and Nikolai Knyzhov scoring his first goal of the year and his first goal in two years to even the game up at five and ultimately force bonus hockey. Matt Benning and Fabian Zetterlund assisted on the Labanc goal, while Logan Couture and Alexander Barabanov assisted on the equalizer by Knyzhov. These were additional huge moments in this one that allowed the Sharks to earn at least one point in the standings. 

The overtime theme continues to repeat itself for the Sharks: a turnover by Erik Karlsson created a 2-on-0 opportunity for the Jackets involving Patrik Laine and Johnny Gaudreau that set up Gaudreau to score the OT winner, his second goal of the game, and his fifth point of the night for Columbus. 

Kaapo Kahkonen made 42 saves in yet another losing effort in his third start in the Sharks' past four games. 

With their overtime loss to the last-place Blue Jackets, the Sharks become the first team in the NHL this season to be officially mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Despite this expected outlook from the get-go, there is plenty to be proud of in this game form the Sharks' perspective, especially William Eklund's first goal in the NHL and Nikolai Knyzhov's first goal in two years. It is still probably best for the Sharks to continue to lose as many games as possible this season to better their odds of winning the Connor Bedard sweepstakes, and they understood the assignment. I will continue to watch and follow this team til the very end since the 2023 draft class is deep and loaded with talent and for further player development. Team Teal's current homestand continues on Thursday, when they face the Seattle Kraken for the third and final time this season at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App 

You can further support my blogs by checking out my merch (sample pictured below): CPF Store