Sharks 2024-25 Game 25 Recap: Senators 4, Sharks 3 (11/27/24)

 The Sharks couldn’t quite overcome a slow start as they lose 4-3 to the Ottawa Senators. 

The Senators scored twice in the first period via Adam Gaudette and Josh Norris to get this one started. Unfortunately, Barclay Goodrow exited the game in the first period and didn’t return due to an upper-body injury. Near the midway point of the second period, Mario Ferraro put the Sharks on the board and back in this game with his first goal of the season, with assists from Will Smith and Klim Kostin. Later in the middle frame, the Sens regained their two-goal lead on Tyler Kleven’s first NHL goal. 

The Sharks mounted a comeback of sorts to begin the third period, starting with Macklin Celebrini scoring his seventh NHL goal on a great backhand pass from William Eklund to get back within one. Jake Walman made the initial shot from the point for the secondary assist to set up William Eklund to grab the rebound and make the sweet backhand pass to Macklin Celebrini to find the back of the net. Later in the third period, the Sharks tied the game at three on a somewhat fluky goal by Will Smith for his third in the NHL, with assists from Fabian Zetterlund and Timothy Liljegren. However, the Senators would have the last laugh, as Adam Gaudette would score his second goal of the game to retake the lead and ultimately win it for the Senators. 

Mackenzie Blackwood was back in net for the Sharks and has definitely had better days in the crease, recording seven saves on 11 shots against. In addition, yesterday the Sharks brought Jack Thompson back up from the Barracuda and reassigned Yaroslav Askarov to the Barracuda, while Mikael Granlund was out for a second consecutive game due to an upper-body injury. 

The other crazy aspect about how this game went down and its end result is that the Sharks outshot the Senators 39-11. Ottawa also didn’t register a shot on goal for most of the third period, fueling the Sharks’ comeback attempt. The Sharks generated many scoring chances throughout this game, but Sens goalie Linus Ullmark slammed the door shut on many of them. Next up, the Sharks close out their current homestand in an afternoon matinee on Friday, hosting the Seattle Kraken at 12:30 pm PT. 

Sources: TSN, Curtis Pashelka via X, NHL App 

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Sharks 2024-25 Game 24 Recap: Sharks 7, Kings 2 (11/25/24)

 The Sharks erupted for five goals in the third period as they earn their second win over their rival LA Kings this season 7-2. 

Team Teal struck first early in the opening period on a breakaway goal by Nico Sturm for his fourth of the season, with assists from Mario Ferraro and Yaroslav Askarov. The Kings then tied it at one via Brandt Clarke early in the second period. Later in the second period, Anze Kopitar put the Kings ahead by one, while San Jose evened things up at two on a wraparound deflection by Fabian Zetterlund for his ninth goal of the season, with assists from William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini. 

The ensuing third period would result in the Sharks’ biggest and most dominant period that Sharks have played so far this season. San Jose scored five unanswered goals throughout the final frame to gain complete control of this game and dismantle the Kings. It went as follows: Macklin Celebrini scored his fifth NHL goal on a borderline no-look shot to put the Sharks ahead about a minute into the third period, with assists from Henry Thrun and Jan Rutta. Roughly a minute later, Timothy Liljegren scored his second goal as a Shark to extend the lead to two, with Will Smith registering the lone assist on this goal. It was challenged by the Kings for goalie interference and the call stood as a good goal, and I have no idea what the Kings' coaching staff was thinking there when deciding to challenge this goal. About another minute later, Macklin Celebrini scored his second goal of the game and sixth goal of the season, this time on a two-man advantage, to make it 5-2 Sharks and cap off his first three-point performance of his NHL career, with the assists going to William Eklund and Will Smith. Skip ahead to the 10:46 mark of the third, Alex Wennberg scored on a separate Sharks power play for his sixth goal of the season to make it 6-2, with the lone assist on this goal credited to Jake Walman. Lastly, with around 1:20 remaining in regulation, Luke Kunin scored his fifth goal of the season to further extend the Sharks' lead to five and complete their most dominant victory of the 2024-25 campaign. In addition, the seven goals scored by the Sharks in this contest are the most they have scored in a game this season. 

Yaroslav Askarov made his first start at SAP Center tonight against the Kings and earned his first win as a Shark, recording 22 saves on 24 shots against. In addition, Nico Sturm was activated off of the IR and is back on the active roster, while Mikael Granlund was out due to an upper-body injury, Henry Thrun is back in the Sharks lineup, and Jack Thompson was re-assigned to the Barracuda. 

Overall, what an amazing and unbelievable third period by the Sharks in their second win over L.A. at home this season. All I could do was laugh at how enjoyable that third period was by this Sharks team, and I would absolutely love for them to put on more performances like this throughout the remainder of this season. The Sharks' current homestand continues on Wednesday, when they host the Ottawa Senators in their next game at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: FanDuel Sportsnet West, Curtis Pashelka and Sheng Peng via X, NHL App 

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Sharks 2024-25 Game 23 Recap: Sabres 4, Sharks 2 (11/23/24)

 On Jumbo Joe Thornton’s special day, a close game occurred between the Sharks and Buffalo Sabres, but Team Teal coughed up its lead in the third period and wound up losing 4-2. 

I first want to begin with the most important and significant event and milestone that occurred before this game, which was the Joe Thornton jersey retirement ceremony. It was a simply incredible, epic, and spectacular moment that will be immortalized in Sharks franchise history as the second player to ever have his jersey number retired by the Sharks besides Jumbo’s longtime teammate Patrick Marleau. It was certainly a heartwarming, amazing, and at times emotional ceremony, which also brought out many of Joe Thornton’s former teammates, with my favorite appearance being that of Joe Pavelski. Speaking of Little Joe, he needs to be the next player that the Sharks honor with a jersey retirement ceremony. In addition, Jumbo Joe’s family and a few of his former coaches were in attendance as well. Besides Pavelski’s appearance, I enjoyed the speech that Joe Thornton gave during his ceremony with his full uplifting personality on display. What a great way for San Jose to honor a franchise legend and one of the greatest playmakers in NHL history, and I am looking forward to seeing Thornton’s no. 19 hanging in the rafters at SAP Center at my next Sharks game, hopefully sometime this season. 

Onto the game itself versus the Sabres, Fabian Zetterlund opened the scoring for the Sharks in the first period with his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Jake Walman and William Eklund. Soon after, Peyton Krebs scored to even the game at one for the Sabres. The Sharks retook the lead early in the second period on Luke Kunin’s fourth goal of the season, with assists from Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg. In addition, I must give credit where credit is due, as former Sharks goalie James Reimer made an absolutely unreal diving glove save in the middle frame to rob Macklin Celebrini of a goal to keep the Sharks’ lead at one. 

The Sabres scored twice early in the third period via Dylan Cozens and a shorthanded rally from Alex Tuch to gain their first lead of the night. Lastly, as time was expiring in regulation, Buffalo placed the nail in the coffin, as Rasmus Dahlin scored an empty-netter to give the Sabres a two-goal lead and put this one away for good. 

Mackenzie Blackwood was back in net for the Sharks against the Sabres, registering 27 saves on 30 shots against. 

An interesting fact I heard as to why it all made sense for Joe Thornton’s jersey retirement ceremony to be held ahead of tonight’s game against the Sabres is that Jumbo’s first game as a Shark during the 2005-06 season was against the Sabres. The final point I want to state about this game specifically is that despite not getting the win for Jumbo, it was a great, competitive, and toe-to-toe game between these two clubs until the very end. The Sharks’ current homestand continues on Monday when they face their rival in the Los Angeles Kings for the third time this season at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App 

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Sharks 2024-25 Game 22 Recap: Blues 3, Sharks 2 (SO) (11/21/24)

 The Sharks overcame a slow start and climbed back in this one, but couldn’t get it done in the shootout once again as the St. Louis Blues win 3-2. 

The Blues got things going immediately, as Nathan Walker scores on the first shot of the game to put St. Louis on the board. The Sharks responded about eight minutes later on their first power play opportunity of the game on Alex Wennberg’s fourth goal of the season, with assists from Mikael Granlund and Macklin Celebrini. St. Louis regained the lead in the second period via Jordan Kyrou to make it 2-1 through two periods of play. 

With 8.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the Sharks’ resiliency was on full display, as Alex Wennberg scored his second goal of the game and fifth of the season to tie things up at two to force extras. San Jose had some great individual efforts in the OT period to get this game to a shootout, but there wasn’t enough shots on goal from them to try to win it during 3-on-3 overtime. The difference-maker during the skills competition was Jake Neighbours, who scored the only goal in the shootout to seal the victory for the Blues. 

Yaroslav Askarov officially made his Sharks debut tonight in St. Louis and had a solid performance, recording 29 saves on 31 shots against. In addition, Jack Thompson and Givani Smith were back in the lineup in the second game of this back-to-back set, replacing Will Smith and Henry Thrun. 

This Sharks team remains snake-bitten in shootouts this season, but despite only getting one point out of this contest, they played well against the Blues in St. Louis tonight. Next up, the Sharks return home to host an incredibly significant game against the Buffalo Sabres at 5 pm PT. This game is incredibly significant for the Sharks as they will be retiring Joe Thornton’s no. 19 to the rafters at SAP Center in a special pregame ceremony, the latter of which begins at 2:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App

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Sharks 2024-25 Game 21 Recap: Stars 5, Sharks 2 (11/20/24)

 The Sharks open their quick two-game back-to-back Midwest roadie with a 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. 

The Stars struck first late in the opening period via Jason Robertson, while Mikael Granlund evened things up at one a few minutes afterwards on a shorthanded breakaway goal by Mikael Granlund for his ninth of the year. William Eklund recorded the lone assist on the Sharks equalizer from Granlund for his seventh point in the past five games. Dallas regained the lead about a minute into the second period on a goal by Wyatt Johnston, while Jamie Benn extended the Stars’ lead to two at around the 11-minute mark of the middle frame. 

Team Teal gets back to within one late in the third period on Jake Walman’s second goal of the season, with Mikael Granlund registering his 400th career assist on this goal. However, the Stars would wrap this game up in the final minute and a half of regulation with two empty-netters from Roope Hintz and Evgenii Dadonov to go up by three. 

Mackenzie Blackwood finished his night with 26 saves on 29 shots against. In addition, late in the third period, Mikael Granlund took a high hit from Ilya Lyubushkin and was forced to exit the game and enter concussion protocol, whose status going forward has yet to be confirmed. 

The Sharks round out their current road trip tomorrow in St. Louis against the Blues at 5 pm PT. 

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X 

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Sharks 2024-25 Game 20 Recap: Sharks 5, Red Wings 4 (OT) (11/18/24)

 A two-goal performance from William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini’s first career game-winning goal propel the Sharks to a 5-4 OT victory over the Detroit Red Wings. 

The Sharks gave up the first goal of the game early in the first period to Dylan Larkin to put the Red Wings on the board. San Jose responded soon after on its first power play of the game via William Eklund’s third goal of the season, who extends his point streak to four games. Assists on Eklund’s third goal of the game were credited to Alex Wennberg and Jake Walman. In the final two minutes of the first period, the Red Wings regained their lead with a power-play goal of their own in the form of Marco Kasper’s second NHL goal. 

Early in the second period, William Eklund scored his fourth goal of the season and second goal of the game to even the game at two, which went off of the top of Cam Talbot’s glove and into the net. Assists on Eklund’s second goal of the game went to Mario Ferraro and Fabian Zetterlund. About a few minutes later, Alex Wennberg gave the puck away near a Red Wings skater, and the puck goes off of Henry Turin’s skate and into the Sharks net, in which the own goal was credited to Michael Rasmussen to retake the lead for Detroit. Within the last minute of the second period, Tyler Toffoli scored his ninth goal of the season to tie the game at three, with assists from Alex Wennberg and Ty Dellandrea. 

Early in the third period, the Sharks grabbed their first lead of the night on Luke Kunin's third goal of the season, with Carl Grundstrom and Henry Thrun helping set up the Sharks' first go-ahead goal of this one. However, with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, Team Teal allowed Alex DeBrincat to even the game up at four, which first went off of a diving Mario Ferraro and then DeBrincat pots one in off his own rebound to force overtime. As for the OT period, it only took 46 seconds for Macklin Celebrini to score his fourth NHL goal and first game-winner of his NHL career to complete the victory for the Sharks over the Red Wings, with Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci picking up the helpers on this huge and important OT GWG. 

Mackenzie Blackwood earned the win in net for Team Teal, recording 16 saves on 20 shots against. His best save in this game against the Red Wings occurred early in the second period when he performed the splits and robbed a surefire goal by Andrew Copp with his right pad. Earlier today, the Sharks called up their goalie of the future, Yaroslav Askarov, from the Barracuda, as Vitek Vanecek is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury. In his relatively small sample size in the AHL this season, Askarov has compiled a 6-3-0 record with a 1.92 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. It has yet to be determined when Askarov will make his Sharks debut, but right now the Sharks net is Blackwood's to lose. 

This was a mostly back-and-forth game between the Sharks and Red Wings, but the Sharks fought hard and came through in the clutch when it mattered most, resulting in one of their biggest offensive outputs in a while and in a game this season. Most importantly, William Eklund had his biggest performance of the season so far, and the first of many game-winning goals for Macklin Celebrini was accomplished, the latter of whom was the third-youngest in NHL history at the time of scoring his first game-winner per NHL Public Relations. The Sharks head back out on the road again, this time to the Midwest for a back-to-back set starting in Dallas against the Stars on Wednesday at 5 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X

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Sharks 2024-25 Game 19 Recap: Penguins 4, Sharks 3 (SO) (11/16/24)

 Another late comeback by the Sharks makes it a close contest to force bonus hockey, but they fail to grab the extra point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

The Penguins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Bryan Rust and Jesse Puljujarvi. The Pens’ second goal of this one was initially scored by Evgeni Malkin, but it was challenged by the Sharks coaching staff for offsides, resulting in another successfully overturned goal. 

Mackenzie Blackwood replaced Vitek Vanecek in the Sharks net to begin the second period, as Vanecek exited the game with an undisclosed injury. Vanecek finished his night with eight saves on ten shots against in his one period of play. Pittsburgh extended its lead to three early in the middle frame via Sidney Crosby. The Pens were in complete control at this point and seemed as if they were on their way to a one-sided victory, but not so fast. Later in the second period, the Sharks began yet another resilient comeback, with Tyler Toffoli getting Team Teal on the board with his seventh goal of the season assisted by Will Smith. 

San Jose added two more goals in the third period to tie it at three to force bonus hockey. The first of these two third-period goals came at around the seven-minute mark via Mikael Granlund’s eighth of the season, with assists from Fabian Zetterlund and Mikael Granlund. The equalizer was scored by Tyler Toffoli at close to the 12-minute mark for his eighth goal of the season and second goal of the game, with assists from Ty Dellandrea and Jake Walman. 

This game eventually had to be determined in a skills competition, in which the Penguins took 3-2 and earned the additional point in the standings. Mikael Granlund and William Eklund scored in the shootout for the Sharks, while the Penguins won this contest on the stick of Evgeni Malkin in the fifth round of the shootout. 

Mackenzie Blackwood recorded 25 saves on 26 shots against in relief for Vitek Vanecek. Blackwood’s best save of the night occurred with just under eight minutes remaining in regulation, in which he made a brilliant diving stop on a shot from Rickard Rakell. In addition, Nico Sturm is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury, while Jake Walman returned to the Sharks lineup from injury and Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith were paired together on the second line tonight. 

The Sharks had a great, competitive comeback effort against a struggling Pens team that earned them a point in the standings, but shootouts have not been kind to them this season. Although the sudden departure of Vitek Vanecek after the first period is concerning and his status is still unknown, this may open the door for Yaroslav Askarov to make his Sharks debut in the coming days, who has been fantastic for the Barracuda in the AHL so far this season. Team Teal returns home for their next game to host the Detroit Red Wings on Monday at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, ESPN, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X 

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