Sharks 2023-24 Game 20 Recap: Canadiens 3, Sharks 2 (SO) (11/24/23)

 Team Teal performed well for most of this game, but allowed the Montreal Canadiens to come back and ultimately win 3-2 in the shootout. 

The Sharks got some great scoring chances in the opening period, especially on the man advantage, but the game remained scoreless through one period of play. Team Teal capitalized early in the second period on Mike Hoffman’s fifth goal of the year from William Eklund and Tomas Hertl. They then extended their lead to two soon after on a bar-down clapper from William Eklund from the faceoff circle, with assists from Calen Addison and Tomas Hertl. Montreal was able to sneak one in before the end of the middle frame via Jonathan Kovacevic to get the Canadiens on the board. 

The wheels started to fall off a bit for the Sharks early in the third period, as a nice shot by Cole Caufield tied the game for the Habs, which would ultimately force overtime and a shootout. William Eklund and Nick Suzuki would score on the first shootout attempts for both teams, but the difference-maker would be Jesse Ylonen in round six, who would score to win it for the Canadiens. 

Mackenzie Blackwood had a solid outing on this Black Friday matinee, recording a total of 22 saves on 24 shots against. In addition, Filip Zadina exited the game after the first period due to a nagging upper-body injury. On a more positive note, this was the first game that the Sharks played all season where they outshot their opponent, with the totals being 33-24 in favor of San Jose. Prior to this game, Matt Benning was activated from the IR, while Jan Rutta was placed on the IR and is considered week-to-week. 

It sucks that the Sharks blew it in the third period and couldn’t hold on, but at least they performed a lot better than their previous game in Seattle the other night. The way games like these end make me want the NHL to abolish shootouts altogether. Also, it was great to see the Sharks honor their radio play-by-play announcer and 2023 Foster Hewitt Award winner Dan Rusanowsky in a pregame ceremony today. Next up, the Sharks return to action tomorrow night, hosting the Vancouver Canucks at 7:00 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, San Jose Sharks PR 

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