Sharks 2022-23 Game 17 Recap: Sharks 3, Wild 2 (SO) (11/13/22)

 The Sharks come from behind in the third period and get it done in the shootout against the Minnesota Wild for their fifth win of the season 3-2. 

Team Teal didn't get off to the best start in this one, but that didn't matter as they made up for it later on. The Wild scored the first goal of the game in the first period via Freddy Gaudreau to make it 1-0 in favor of Minnesota through two periods. Although the second period was scoreless, Radim Simek had to leave the game after the elbow of Mason Shaw made contact with Simek's head. 

Early in the third while on the power play, a mishap by Erik Karlsson in which he fell backwards while handling the puck created a 2-on-0 opportunity for the Wild that led to a goal by Connor Dewar to extend the Wild's lead to two. This mishap could've proven costly to the Sharks, but this was only until about six minutes left in regulation, when Steven Lorentz put the Sharks on the board with his second goal of the season. Marc-Eduoard Vlasic and Matt Benning assisted on the Sharks' first goal of the game. Two minutes later, the Sharks tied the game at two via Nico Sturm to force bonus hockey, with Erik Karlsson and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic collecting the assists on the equalizer. 

Unlike their last three shootouts this season, this one in Minnesota went the Sharks' way. Kirill Kaprizov scored the first successful attempt of the shootout in the third round for the Wild. Nick Bonino made his attempt in the sixth round for the Sharks, but the difference-maker Alexander Barabanov's first shootout attempt of his NHL career in the tenth round, in which he went five-hole and scored the game-winner.

James Reimer was excellent in net against the Wild, recording 28 saves. In addition, EK65 logged just over 34 minutes of ice time in the victory over the Wild, his most as a Shark. 

This Sharks team has been finding its groove and getting better as the season progresses, which is great to see. Their upcoming schedule isn't getting any easier, but hopefully they can remain consistent and compile even more of a win streak. Next up, Team Teal makes one last stop on their current road trip in Vegas against the Golden Knights on Tuesday at 7 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 16 Recap: Sharks 5, Stars 4 (11/11/22)

 The Sharks staved off a late comeback from the Stars and held on to snap a five-game skid in a 5-4 victory in Dallas. 

This is a big relief for this Sharks team that they got over the hump and back in the win column for their fourth win of the season. But first, I have to start with how this game began. With under five minutes into the first period, Jamie Benn scores to put the Stars on the board. The Sharks answer back a few minutes later on the man advantage via Alexander Barabanov's first goal of the season, with assists from Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture. Team Teal gained their first lead of the night about six minutes later on a goal by Evgeny Svechnikov from Oskar Lindblom and Steven Lorentz, only to lose that lead right before the first intermission on Jamie Benn's second of the game for the Stars to tie it at two. 

Early in the second period, Timo Meier scores his seventh goal of the season, extending his point and goal streak to five games. Kevin Labanc recorded the lone assist on the Timo Meier goal. It was only a matter of seconds before the Sharks built a two-goal lead via Logan Couture's sixth goal of the year. Alexander Barabanov picked up the lone helper on the Captain Cooch goal. Late in the middle frame, Logan Couture fought Jamie Benn in a very unlikely tilt to complete his first-ever Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, and fight). 

The Sharks' first line continues to stay productive early in the third period, with Tomas Hertl scoring his fourth goal of the season to extend San Jose's lead to three. Timo Meier and Jaycob Megna were credited with the assists on what was also Hertl's 400th point of his NHL career. A bit later in the third, the Stars mounted a comeback, adding two more goals via Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski to cut their deficit to one. It seemed at that point as if the Stars had all the momentum late in the third, and the Sharks were bound to blow yet another multi-goal lead and find another way to lose. Fortunately, Team Teal never lost their lead in the third period and held on for a much-needed win. 

James Reimer was back in net against the Stars, recording 25 saves.

San Jose needed this win badly and got the job done. It may have been a bit ugly, but they should be okay with any kind of win this season to inject more confidence in this group and continue to show the hockey world that they have something to prove. Not only has the top forward line been excellent thus far, but the Sharks have been able to find scoring from their depth forwards as well, which was a huge factor in helping them get back into the win column. Hopefully this is the beginning of a lengthy hot streak for the Sharks. Next up, the Sharks travel to Minnesota to face the Wild on Sunday at 3 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 15 Recap: Blues 5, Sharks 3 (11/10/22)

 The Sharks drop their fifth straight game as the St. Louis Blues were the more desperate team and won 5-3 to end their franchise-record eight-game skid. 

Team Teal is so close, yet they can’t seem to get over the hump. This one all came down to the Sharks’ lack of scoring depth and woes in the defensive zone. Although this was a terrible loss, there were some positive aspects to take from this game, which I will get to later in this post. The Blues opened the scoring two and a half minutes into beginning frame via Torey Krug. The Sharks got the equalizer late in the first, which was last touched by Timo Meier for his sixth goal of the season and fourth consecutive game with a goal. Erik Karlsson made the initial shot that Timo Meier made contact with for the 1-1 tie and his 20th point in 15 games this season, one shy of a Sharks franchise record set by Patrick Marleau during the 2009-10 season. Kevin Labanc was credited with the other assist on the Sharks' first goal of the game. 

The Blues took the lead relatively early in the second period on the power play via Jordan Kyrou. Team Teal answered back about six minutes later on Tomas Hertl's third goal of the year, with Kevin Labanc recording his second assist of the game and Mario Ferraro picking up the other assist on the Sharks' second goal of the game. With about two minutes remaining in the second period, the Blues went back ahead 3-2 on a goal by Brandon Saad. 

Early in the final frame, Logan Couture tipped one in from Erik Karlsson for his fifth goal of the season to tie it at three. This would also be EK65's second assist of the night. However, when the Sharks had a chance to get things done and win against a struggling Blues team, they couldn't, as Calle Rosen scores the game-winner for the Blues later in the third and Noel Acciari adds the extra insurance with an empty-netter with seconds remaining in the game. 

Kaapo Kahkonen received the nod in net but couldn't get bailed out by the rest of the team, recording 28 saves on 32 shots against. In addition, this marked Jaycob Megna's 100th NHL game and Tomas Hertl’s 600th NHL game. 

The Sharks' first midwest road trip of the season is off to a slow and awful start. I had a gut feeling that the Blues would do everything they can to end their 8-game losing streak against this Sharks team and be successful in doing so because that's how this season is going for Team Teal. They have to forget this one and improve quickly, as the Sharks play their next game tonight in Dallas against the Stars in the second game of a back-to-back set at 5:30 pm PT.

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 14 Recap: Ducks 5, Sharks 4 (SO) (11/5/22)

 The Sharks have dropped their fourth straight game and third straight in the shootout to close out their current homestand, a 5-4 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks. 

Like the last few games, this was another close one that was winnable for the Sharks, but they let it slip away. They had a lead in the third period but continue to allow goals late in the third period to force bonus hockey and find ways to shoot themselves in the foot. Before diving into how this all happened, I must begin with how this game started. Kevin Labanc opened the scoring for the Sharks in the first period with his second goal of the season, with assists from Timo Meier and Matt Benning. It had found the back of the net after going off John Klingberg's stick. Soon after, Jonah Gadjovich and Nathan Beaulieu dropped the gloves and fought. Later in the first, the Ducks scored the next two goals via Brett Leason and Max Comtois to go up 2-1 through one period of play. 

Towards the middle of the second period, Timo Meier scored his fifth goal of the season to tie it at two, with Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl picking up assists. The Sharks went ahead late in the second on a tip-in by Luke Kunin on a shot from Tomas Hertl on the power play. Kevin Labanc picked up the secondary assist on the Kunin go-ahead goal. The Ducks challenged it for offsides, but the goal stood. 

The Sharks extended their lead to two towards the middle of the third period on Tomas Hertl's second goal of the season, with Timo Meier being credited with the lone assist on this goal. Team Teal should've won this game in regulation at this point, but like in the previous game, they couldn't hold it together late in regulation, allowing two late-period goals by Mason McTavish and Adam Henrique to tie the game at four and force bonus hockey. 

Anaheim set the tone for the shootout in round two with off-pace, fake-out moves by Trevor Zegras that completely fooled James Reimer, resulting in a goal. As for the Sharks, Kevin Labanc and Nick Bonino made their shootout attempts in the third and fifth rounds. However, Mason McTavish scored right after Bones to keep this game going. The real difference-maker in the shootout was Adam Henrique's attempt in the tenth round to win it for the Ducks, resulting in another disappointing defeat for Team Teal. 

James Reimer had arguably his worst performance in net Saturday night making 21 saves on 25 shots against and letting in some softies. 

On a more positive note, the Sharks are on a three-game point streak and seem to be getting better as the season progresses, but can't finish late in games and take the next step to win games. Tomas Hertl had a three-point night and Erik Karlsson continues his point streak, but these great performances continue to go to waste by the Sharks finding ways to lose nearly every time. This is getting ridiculous. San Jose doesn't play again until Thursday, when they begin their next road trip in St. Louis to face the Blues at 5 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 13 Recap: Panthers 4, Sharks 3 (SO) (11/3/22)

 The Sharks had a great third period with an incredible comeback effort, but a last minute goal by the Panthers in regulation to force OT and bad luck in the skills competition leads to the Sharks finding another way to lose, a 4-3 heartbreaking shootout loss to the Florida Panthers. 

Here we have another winnable game that Team Teal lets slip away. Early in the first period, Luke Kunin received a match penalty and was ejected after laying a hit on Patric Hornqvist in which Kunin's shoulder made contact with Hornqvist's chin. This will automatically go to a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety, and I anticipate that this will result in a one or two game suspension for Kunin. The Panthers scored first late in the first on a goal from Aleksander Barkov to take a 1-0 lead through one period of play. 

The Panthers extended their lead to two late in the second period on a goal by Radko Gudas. A boarding call against Gudas on Timo Meier with about seven seconds remaining in the second period along with a delay of game/puck over glass against Gustav Forsling early in the third set up a 5-on-3 for the Sharks that allowed Timo Meier to score his fourth goal of the season to get the Sharks on the board and cut the Sharks' deficit to one. Alexander Barabanov and Erik Karlsson picked up the assists on the Sharks first goal of the game on the two-man advantage. Five and a half minutes later, Erik Karlsson further continues his hot start by scoring his tenth goal of the season, tying the game at two. EK65's ten goals in the first 13 games of the season now sets a post-WWII record for an NHL defenseman. Nick Bonino was credited with the lone assist on Erik Karlsson's tenth goal of the season. About five minutes later, the Sharks took their first lead of the night on Matt Benning's first goal of the season, stringing together three unanswered goals for Team Teal in the third period. Erik Karlsson picks up his second helper of the game and his third point of the night, while Logan Couture is credited with the secondary assist on the Matt Benning goal. This should've been good enough for the Sharks to win this one, but as mentioned at the beginning of this post, they let this one slip away in typical Sharks fashion. With about 1:22 remaining in regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scores to tie the game at three for the Panthers to send the game to an extra period. In addition Matthew Tkachuk had a three-point night for the Panthers with three assists in this game.

During the OT period, the Sharks took their first minor penalty of the night, which was for too many men on the ice, but luckily it wasn't a complete death blow for them. However, it took four rounds of the shootout to decide this one, with Sam Reinhart scoring on his attempt to give the Panthers the extra point and the victory. 

James Reimer was solid in net and made several clutch stops in the shootout loss, recording a total of 41 saves. 

The Sharks should've won this game in regulation after their third consecutive goal in the third period. However, after Florida tied the game late in the third, I had a sense of impending doom that the Sharks would find another way to lose, and I was right. Another great effort by the Sharks offense has been overshadowed and wasted by another disappointing loss. San Jose will try to improve and redeem themselves in their next game on Saturday, facing the Anaheim Ducks for the second time this week to close out their current homestand. Puck drop for Saturday's game is at 7 pm PT. 

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App 

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 12 Recap: Ducks 6, Sharks 5 (SO) (11/1/22)

 The first meeting of the season between the Sharks and Ducks was highlighted by a high-scoring affair and an Erik Karlsson hat trick. However, the Sharks were on the wrong end of this one, losing to the Ducks 6-5 in a shootout. 

There were lots of good in this game for the Sharks, and they could've won this game, but it all came down to the shootout. This historic night wasn't deserving of its end result, but we'll get to that specifically in a bit. Early on before the scoring began, Evgeny Svechnikov took a puck to the face when blocking a shot, but luckily he was fine and stayed in the game. As for the scoring, it began by the Ducks about five minutes into the first period via Adam Henrique. About a minute later, Erik Karlsson scores the first of his three goals of the game, with assists from Evgeny Svechnikov and Tomas Hertl. EK65 tallies the second of his three goals of the game seconds later to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead, this time getting assists from Jaycob Megna and Nico Sturm. It's possible that Sturm may have last touched the puck before Erik Karlsson's second goal found the back of the net, but the official scoring was changed to reflect that it was indeed EK65 who scored it. The Ducks added two more in the first period via Frank Vatrano and Adam Henrique's second goal of the game for the Ducks to go ahead 3-2 through one period of play. 

Team Teal continued to produce and score in alternating fashion, with Timo Meier scoring his first goal of the game and second goal of the season on the power play. In the process, he was tripped up at the blue line, but stayed with it the entire time to score this spectacular goal. Alexander Barabanov and Erik Karlsson picked up assists on the first Timo Time goal. Late in the second period, Ryan Strome scored to put the Ducks ahead 4-3, only for Jakob Silfverberg to put one in his own net seconds after, which was credited as Timo Meier's second goal of the game. In addition, Luke Kunin and Nathan Beaulieu fought early in the third period after Kunin laid a clean hit and Beaulieu went after Kunin to stick up for his teammate. 

During the second half of the third period, Max Comtois put the Ducks up 5-4, while Erik Karlsson tied the game at five about six minutes later with his third goal of the game to complete his first career hat trick. Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov picked up the assists on Erik Karlsson's third goal of the game. About 30 seconds after this occurred, fans at SAP Center realized that EK65 recorded a hat trick, so the raining of hats onto the ice was a tad delayed. Karlsson also became the first Sharks defenseman to score a hat trick last night. In addition, this would force overtime and a shootout. 

As for the shootout, it started off pretty well with Logan Couture going five-hole and scoring during the Sharks' first attempt, only for Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry to score on the next two attempts for the Ducks. Erik Karlsson could've kept this game going in the shootout with his attempt, as it would be even more fitting and amazing if he had scored there, but he was stopped at the doorstep by Anthony Stolarz to seal the victory for the Ducks. 

Kaapo Kahkonen received the nod in net last night, recording 39 saves on 44 shots against. 

Despite the undesirable end result, the Sharks still picked up a point, and this game had the elements of a classic. Next up, the Sharks host the Florida Panthers at SAP Center on Thursday at 7:30 pm PT before they host the Ducks again in a matter of days on Saturday.

Sources: ESPN, NHL App

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Sharks 2022-23 Game 11 Recap: Lightning 4, Sharks 3 (10/29/22)

 The Sharks lose in the last minute of regulation to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3. 

Team Teal put up a solid effort and made things close throughout the entire game, but the Bolts maintained control and were the better, more skilled team. The Lightning opened the scoring 32 seconds in via Victor Hedman, and the two teams would alternate scoring goals from there. Soon after, Erik Karlsson would tie the game at one with his first goal of the game. The lone assist on the Sharks' first goal of the game would go to Tomas Hertl. Much later in the first period, the Lightning went ahead 2-1 before the first intermission via Ross Colton. 

Early in the second period, the Sharks knotted it at two via Nico Sturm, who is looking like a sneaky good pickup for the Sharks during this past offseason. Assisting on the Sharks' second goal were Luke Kunin and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic. Towards the end of the middle frame, Alex Killorn put Tampa back up by one to make it 3-2 through two periods of play. 

Things picked back up early in the third as Erik Karlsson scores his second goal of the game on the power play. Tomas Hertl picked up his second helper of the day, while Timo Meier picked up the other helper on EK65's second goal of the game. Erik Karlsson has been on a tear so far this season and now leads the NHL in points among defensemen with 11 and goals among defensemen with 6. With 57 seconds remaining in regulation, Nikita Kucherov put any comeback effort from the Sharks to bed with the game-winning goal for the Lightning. 

James Reimer was in net for the Sharks in their afternoon match against the Bolts, recording 22 saves on 26 shots against. 

In addition, Nick Bonino was back in the lineup after missing the past few games due to an upper-body injury. 

This loss wasn't entirely the Sharks' fault. In fact, they played pretty well, but the end result doesn't surprise me one bit. It's awesome to see Erik Karlsson get off to a hot start this season and return to vintage form; hopefully he stays healthy, doesn't regress, and keeps up his current scoring pace. Next up, the Sharks face the Anaheim Ducks for the first time this season on Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, Sharks Audio Network, NHL App

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