Sharks 2023-24 Game 67 Recap: Blackhawks 5, Sharks 2 (3/17/24)

 Team Teal had a great first period, but they imploded in the third period as they lose to the Blackhawks 5-2 in the first of two Tank-4-Celebrini Cups this week. 

The Sharks got off to a fantastic start in the Windy City, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Ryan Carpenter and Klim Kostin. This is Ryan Carpenter’s fifth goal of the season and Klim Kostin’s fourth point in five games played as a Shark. Alexander Barabanov and Kevin Labanc registered assists on the first goal by Carpenter, while Mario Ferraro and Mikael Granlund registered assists on the second goal by Kostin. Late in the second period, the Sharks let their game falter a bit, allowing Philip Kurashev score to put the Blackhawks on the board. 

The Sharks collapsed in the third period, allowing the Bedards to score four unanswered, the first three of of these four scored in the span of under a minute via Ryan Donato, Kevin Korchinski, and Joey Anderson. The last of these four third period goals by Chicago was scored in the final seconds of this game by Connor Bedard into the empty net to conclude this one. 

Devin Cooley made his NHL debut in net for the Sharks in Chicago on Sunday. He had a decent first NHL start but was let down significantly by his defense in the third period, recording a total of 26 saves on 30 shots against. 

Speaking of the next time these two teams face each other this week, that will take place in San Jose on Saturday, and my buddy and I will be in attendance for that second game between these teams this week. It would be great if the Sharks can step up their game and play better on Saturday when I will be in attendance at the Shark Tank, but at the same time, the Sharks are one step closer to winning the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes with their glorified tanking efforts this year. As for their next game, the Sharks round out their last lengthy road trip of the season on Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators at 5 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App 

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