The Sharks began this game with a quiet first two periods, but they rallied from behind with three unanswered goals in the third period to take this one by a score of 3-2 over the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canucks struck first via Drew O’Connor on a mostly open net late in the first period. Filip Bystedt’s first shift in his NHL debut was a great one, resulting in a fantastic scoring opportunity that was stopped by Leevi Merilainen. Through the second period, the Sharks’ best scoring chance came on a shorthanded breakaway by Kiefer Sherwood, but was stopped by Merilainen once again. Late in the second period, the Canucks extended their lead to two on a goal by Liam Ohgren.
At the eight-minute mark of the third period, the Sharks got themselves on the board with a much-needed power play goal by Will Smith for his fifth of the season, assisted by Dmitry Orlov and Mason Marchment. The Sharks followed that first goal of the homestand up with two more goals on two consecutive shifts to grab their first lead of the night. The second Sharks goal of the night was Will Smith’s second of the game and sixth of the season, assisted by Macklin Celebrini and Michael Kesselring. This was followed by Mason Marchment with the go-ahead game-winner for his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Kiefer Sherwood and Nolan Allan.
Yaroslav Askarov continued to shine in his second straight start, compiling 23 saves on 25 shots against. In addition, the Sharks made a flurry of transactions after their shutout loss to the Sabres on Tuesday and prior to tonight's game. Filip Bystedt and Libor Hajek were recalled from the Barracuda, the former of which made his NHL debut tonight and was inserted as the third-line center. Igor Chernyshov and Alexander Wennberg were placed on injured reserve, while Luca Cagnoni was re-assigned to the Barracuda. Zack Ostapchuk and Hajek were healthy scratches tonight as well.
Team Teal got off to a slow start against the lowly rebuilding Canucks and showed little to no signs of life through two periods of play. However, Will Smith being placed back on the top line with Mack Celebrini was a huge factor in lighting the spark for this Sharks team in the third period, as Smith had a massive performance with two of the three Sharks goals tonight. It was amazing to see the Sharks put together this incredible late comeback effort to finish the job and get back in the win column. The Sharks host the Ottawa Senators in their next game on Saturday at 1 pm PT. This next contest will also be my second game at the Tank this season, so be on the lookout for my personal experience post from the next Sharks game coming soon.
Sources: NBC Sports California, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka and San Jose Sharks PR via X
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