The Sharks were in it until the third period, but costly turnovers and puck mismanagement led to the Sharks’ demise in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings struck first relatively early in the opening period on a power play goal by Alex DeBrincat. A few minutes later, the Sharks responded and tied the game at one when a shot by Macklin Celebrini was saved by John Gibson and the puck trickled behind Gibson, which then allowed Will Smith to poke it in for his 13th goal of the season in his return to the Sharks lineup. John Klingberg also picked up an assist on the equalizer.
Early in the second period, the Sharks took the lead on a redirection goal by Collin Graf for his 14th of the season, assisted by Nick Leddy and Sam Dickinson. Later in the period, the Red Wings evened the game at two via JT Compher. Detroit retook the lead early in the third period on a goal from Dylan Larkin, while the Red Wings finished this one off on an empty-netter from Marco Kasper with about a minute and a half to go.
Yaroslav Askarov was decent in the second game of this back-to-back set, recording 21 saves on 24 shots against. Will Smith is officially back with the Sharks from his stint on the injured reserve, and Vincent Iorio, Ryan Reaves, and Jeff Skinner were healthy scratches. The Sharks made a trade earlier today, dealing defenseman Kyle Masters and a 2026 4th-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2027 5th-round pick that originally belonged to the Chicago Blackhawks. Masters has only three assists in ten ECHL games with the Wichita Thunder this season. Most importantly, this minor trade gets the Sharks at the 50 contract limit and allows Michael Misa to play more NHL games, which is absolutely necessary for this team as Misa's entry-level contract has officially taken effect.
Besides turnovers and puck mismanagement, the Sharks also were a bit exhausted and happened to run into a goalie currently on a hot stretch in John Gibson, which did not help San Jose’s case to win this game. Despite the frustrating defeat, on a more positive note, it was great to see Will Smith score in his return from injury, Smith’s chemistry with Macklin Celebrini remain strong, and Collin Graf keep his hot streak alive. Next up, the Sharks travel to South Florida to face the Panthers on Monday at 3 pm PT.
Sources: NBC Sports California, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X, Sharks + SAP Center App
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