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Thursday, January 30, 2025

Sharks 2024-25 Game 54 Recap: Kraken 6, Sharks 2 (1/30/25)

A massive second period from the Seattle Kraken propelled them to a 6-2 victory over the Sharks.

The Kraken opened the scoring early in the first period via Chandler Stephenson, while the Sharks tied the game at one later in the first period on Carl Grundstrom’s second goal of the season, which was assisted by Will Smith and Mikael Granlund. During the second period, Seattle took complete control of this contest, rattling off four unanswered goals via Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brandon Montour, Jaden Schwartz, and Brandon Montour again to gain a 5-1 lead. After giving up his fourth goal of the night in the second period, Yaroslav Askarov was pulled in favor of Alexander Georgiev, with Askarov finishing his night with seven saves on 11 shots against. Also during the second period, Nikolai Kovalenko had to exit the game due to an undisclosed injury.

The scoring resumed in the final frame, as the Sharks would get one back on Tyler Toffoli’s 18th goal of the season to make it a three-goal game, with assists from Macklin Celebrini and Henry Thrun. However, the Kraken would score one more soon after via Eeli Tolvanen to cap this one off.

Alexandar Georgiev recorded 20 saves on 22 shots against in relief of Askarov. Back in the middle frame, Henry Thrun was engaged in the second fight of his pro hockey career, going toe to toe with Vince Dunn and resulting in Thrun being one goal shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick. In addition, Vitek Vanecek has been loaned to the Barracuda on a conditioning assignment, and Scott Sabourin was reassigned to the Barracuda. Mikael Granlund had missed yesterday's practice with an illness but was good to go for tonight's game in Seattle. He also was named an assistant captain for Team Finland for the upcoming Four Nations Tournament in two weeks. Other notable lineup changes for the Sharks consist of Alexander Wennberg being out due to an upper-body injury and Marc-Edouard Vlasic inserted in place of Jack Thompson on the blueline.

Since Yaroslav Askarov was named to this weekend’s AHL All-Star festivities in Coachella Valley as a representative of the Barracuda, expect him to be sent down to the ‘Cuda soon and for a bit. Overall, I initially anticipated the Sharks to build off of Monday’s 2-1 win over the Penguins, but their positive momentum ran out rather quickly during their brief one-game road trip north to Seattle. Team Teal has the entire weekend off, which is unusual for them during the regular season, then return home for their last three games before the Four Nations tournament break. The Sharks’ next stretch of home games starts on Tuesday, when they host the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 pm PT.

Sources: NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X, Locked On Sharks Podcast

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Monday, January 27, 2025

Sharks 2024-25 Game 53 Recap: Sharks 2, Penguins 1 (1/27/25)

The Sharks snap their six-game losing skid, as they bounce back big time by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1.

The Sharks struck first in the second period, as Mikael Granlund went top corner for his 15th goal of the season, assisted by Will Smith. Near the beginning of the third period, Sidney Crosby scored to tie the game for the Penguins. Soon after, the Sharks responded on Macklin Celebrini’s 16th NHL goal to regain the lead, with an assist from Tyler Toffoli. Later in the third period, the Pens’ Drew O’Connor was awarded a penalty shot after he was hooked by Timothy Liljegren on a breakaway scoring opportunity, but luckily Yaroslav Askarov shut the door on that penalty shot. For a moment, the Penguins had tied the game at two via Michael Bunting, but the Sharks had challenged it for goalie interference and had it successfully overturned.

Yaroslav Askarov returned to form and performed excellently against the Penguins, stopping 31 of 32 shots he faced. In addition, yesterday the Sharks placed Jan Rutta on IR with a lower-body injury and recalled Jack Thompson from the Barracuda.

On top of that, the Sharks revealed their Quarter Century team roster during the first intermission. They are as follows, listed in order of forward line, defensive pair, and goalie:

First Team:

Patrick Marleau - Joe Pavelski - Joe Thornton

Brent Burns - Marc-Eduoard Vlasic

Evgenii Nabokov

Second Team:

Logan Couture - Tomas Hertl - Owen Nolan

Dan Boyle - Erik Karlsson

Martin Jones

There aren’t any surprises in who was named to the Sharks Quarter-Century team. Everyone in the first team was a guaranteed lock, and all of who made the complete roster were who I would have picked to form my Sharks Quarter-Century team as well.

Overall, Team Teal stepped up and got the job done tonight, especially in goaltending and on the penalty kill, to get back in the win column, and it felt amazing. This should certainly help rejuvenate this team from a confidence standpoint heading into their remaining games before the Four Nations Faceoff break. Next up, the Sharks hit the road to Seattle to visit the Kraken on Thursday at 7:30 pm PT, which will be nationally televised on ESPN.

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, San Jose Sharks PR

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Sharks 2024-25 Game 52 Recap: Panthers 7, Sharks 2 (1/25/25)

The Sharks had a brief lead in the first period, but things went completely off the rails for them from there in a 7-2 blowout loss to the Florida Panthers.

The Panthers struck first early in the first period on a slapshot by Nate Schmidt, while the Sharks responded soon after with two goals in a span of 32 seconds to take the lead. The first Sharks goal came on a deflection by Cody Ceci on a shot from Jake Walman for Ceci’s fourth goal of the year, while the go-ahead goal was scored by Will Smith for his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Mario Ferraro and Fabian Zetterlund. Later in the first period, the Panthers tied the game at two via Sam Bennett. This equalizer was challenged by the Sharks for potential goalie interference, but it ultimately stood as a good goal. It wasn’t long before Florida would retake its lead, this time via Aaron Ekblad to make it 3-2 before the end of the first period.

Early in the second period, Florida extended its lead to two via AJ Greer. This resulted in the Sharks pulling Alexandar Georgiev in net and inserting Yaroslav Askarov, with Georgiev finishing his night with 11 saves on 15 shots against. After the goaltending change, the Panthers proceeded to score its fourth unanswered goal via Matthew Tkachuk to make it a three-goal contest. Later in the second period, Jesper Boqvist and Sam Reinhart each scored to make it six unanswered goals and a five-goal lead for the Panthers. Luckily the third period had calmed down and the Sharks did not dig themselves a deeper hole after the first two periods, but the damage had already been done by the Panthers.

Yaroslav Askarov recorded 13 saves on 16 shots against in relief of Georgiev. In addition, yesterday the Sharks placed Ty Dellandrea on IR, recalled Scott Sabourin from the Barracuda, and reassigned Collin Graf to the Barracuda. On top of that, San Jose signed Colin White to a one-year, $850k NHL contract, who had 5 goals and 5 assists in 20 games for the Barracuda this season.

This is now the fourth consecutive game in which the Sharks have allowed at least five goals from their opponents. Team Teal’s offense has recovered some during this stretch, but their defense has remained practically nonexistent. Something has to give for this Sharks team to recover from their current slump, but I wouldn’t be surprised if much of this trend continues for much of the remainder of this season. The Sharks conclude their current three-game homestand on Monday, when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:30 pm PT.

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App, San Jose Sharks PR, Curtis Pashelka via X

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Sharks 2024-25 Game 51 Recap: Predators 6, Sharks 5 (1/23/25)

Things went a bit differently this time, but it had many similarities to the other night, as the Nashville Predators sweep the home-and-home set with a 6-5 victory over the Sharks in San Jose.

The Predators jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the first period on goals from Gustav Nyquist, Tommy Novak, and Filip Forsberg, quite the opposite of how these two teams began the other night in Nashville. Immediately after the third Nashville goal was scored, three consecutive fights occurred on the following three faceoffs at center ice. The first of these occurred between Luke Kunin and Cole Smith, followed by Barclay Goodrow and Michael McCarron, and Ty Dellandrea and Zach L’Heureux. These three consecutive scraps helped energize the Sharks and turn their fortunes around for at least the remainder of the first period, as Team Teal scored the next two goals to round out the opening period. The Sharks got on the board via Walker Duehr’s first goal of the season and first as a Shark in his Sharks debut. This occurred on a double deflection play in which the initial shot by Mario Ferraro first goes off Nikolai Kovalenko and last touches Walker Duehr before finding the back of the net. The second Sharks goal of this game and last of the first period was Mario Ferraro’s fifth goal of the season, assisted by Mikael Granlund and Timothy Liljegren.

The second period got even crazier, starting with the Preds scoring the first two goals of the middle frame via Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos to regain their three-goal lead. Later in the second period, the Sharks get back in this game on Henry Thrun’s first goal of the season, assisted by Alex Wennberg and Nikolai Kovalenko, followed by Fabian Zetterlund putting one in a mostly empty net for his 14th goal of the season, assisted by Will Smith and Mikael Granlund. Soon after, Cole Smith drills Ty Dellandrea on a shoulder-to-head blatant interference, which knocked Dellandrea out of this game with an upper-body injury. As a result, Cole Smith was assessed a five-minute major and match penalties, ejecting him from this game. This scenario put the Sharks on a five-minute power play and allowed Macklin Celebrini to score his NHL rookie-leading 15th goal of the season to tie the game at five, with assists from Mikael Granlund and William Eklund. The Predators scored the difference-maker in the third period via Fedor Svechkov, which would ultimately win it for Nashville.

Yaroslav Askarov got the start against his former team but didn’t have his best night, recording 32 saves on 38 shots against. In addition, Tyler Toffoli returned to the Sharks lineup tonight after missing the past three games with a lower-body injury.

Although they never led at any point during this contest, the Sharks put together a greater effort in the second leg of the home-and-home with the Predators than in the first one the other night, but they didn’t get many opportunities they had to go their way, especially in the third period. It was insane to see three consecutive tilts occur right after the Sharks went down 3-0 in the first period. It was also great to see Walker Duehr make an instant impact with the Sharks in his Sharks debut and San Jose get goals from a few defensemen, placing them third in the NHL in goals from defensemen. Next up, the Sharks host the defending Stanley Cup champions in the Florida Panthers on Saturday at 7 pm PT.

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

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Sharks Acquire Pavol Regenda from Ducks + Claim Walker Duehr

The Sharks made a relatively minor trade this morning, acquiring forward Pavol Regenda from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Justin Bailey.

Both Regenda and Bailey are AHL forwards with some NHL experience under their belts that could benefit from changes of scenery at this point in their careers. This season, Pavol Regenda has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 36 AHL games with the San Diego Gulls, while Justin Bailey has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 33 AHL games with the Barracuda. As for NHL experience, Regenda has one goal and two assists for three points in 19 career NHL games with the Ducks, with all of his NHL points occurring within the span of a month in October and November of 2022. In total, Regenda has 36 goals and 39 assists for 75 points in 140 AHL games with the Gulls since his first AHL season in 2022-23. As for Justin Bailey, his career totals so far are 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in 141 NHL games, along with 143 goals and 112 assists for 255 points in 403 AHL games.

In addition, San Jose completed another transaction a few hours later, claiming forward Walker Duehr off waivers from the Calgary Flames. This season with the Flames, Duehr recorded one assist in 16 games and didn't receive many opportunities to crack the Flames roster and perform at the NHL level so far. In total, Duehr has nine goals and ten assists for 19 points in 84 career NHL games with the Flames. His personal bests to this point in the NHL were 40 games with Calgary last season and seven goals and 11 points during the 2022-23 season. Duehr also appeared in 20 AHL games with the Calgary Wranglers this season, recording 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points. His AHL career totals add up to 37 goals, 32 assists, and 69 points in 127 games in parts of five seasons with the Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers. Duehr has been added to the Sharks active roster, while Nico Sturm has been placed on IR in a corresponding move.

Overall, the Regenda-Bailey trade with the Ducks is certainly an upgrade for the Barracuda, as it gives the Sharks more flexibility with its AHL roster. As for the Walker Duehr waiver claim, this is another scenario where the Sharks have taken advantage of an opportunity to add an underutilized player in need of a change of scenery, and it has the potential to be a solid depth addition and for Duehr to make an immediate impact with Team Teal to help them get back on the right track going forward.

Sources: Sharks + SAP Center App, Sjsharks.com, NHL Discussion via Instagram, Curtis Pashelka via X

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Sharks 2024-25 Game 50 Recap: Predators 7, Sharks 5 (1/21/25)

Team Teal had a great start and first period but fully imploded down the stretch as they close out their current five-game road trip with a 7-5 loss to the Nashville Predators.

The Sharks opened the scoring within the first two minutes of this one on Macklin Celebrini’s 14th NHL goal, going top shelf on Juuse Saros, assisted by Cody Ceci and William Eklund. San Jose’s offense further came alive in the first period, scoring the next two via Luke Kunin’s 11th goal of the season from Cody Ceci and Mikael Granlund’s 13th goal of the season from Will Smith and Fabian Zetterlund. Soon after, the Predators got on the board via Tommy Novak. Towards the end of the opening period, the Sharks regained their three-goal lead on Jake Walman’s sixth goal of the season, assisted by Alex Wennberg.

Early in the second period, Team Teal extended its lead to four on a tic-tac-toe power play goal by Mikael Granlund for his second of the game and 14th of the season, assisted by William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini. The Predators went on to score the next two goals in the second period via Fedor Svechkov and Justin Barron to cut the Sharks’ lead down to two.

Nashville remained resilient heading into the third period, as they added two more goals early in the final frame via Jonathan Marchessault and Roman Josi to tie the game at five. Soon after, the Predators gained their first lead of the night, as Nick Blankenburg gets one to trickle in during a scenario in which Alexandar Georgiev could have easily made a save. Nashville put one final touch on their complete comeback, adding an empty-netter via Filip Forsberg to make it 7-5.

Alexandar Georgiev made his fourth start in five games for Team Teal, registering 34 saves on 40 shots against. In addition, Nico Sturm, Tyler Toffoli, and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic are all out, the former two of which are dealing with injuries.

It all seemed to be going well for the Sharks through early in the second period, but it all came crashing down during the back half of this one, as they seemingly gave up in the third period and the Predators finished off their biggest comeback in a regular season game in franchise history. Although this loss was certainly one of their most disheartening this season, on a more positive note, Macklin Celebrini’s two points tonight increased his total to 34 in his rookie campaign. This sets the Sharks franchise record for most points scored by an 18-year old in a season.

The Sharks and Predators face each other again on Thursday, this time at SAP Center in San Jose at 7:30 pm PT.

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

Monday, January 20, 2025

Sharks 2024-25 Game 49 Recap: Bruins 6, Sharks 3 (1/20/25)

The Sharks had a big game from Will Smith in his hometown and a lead heading in to the third period, but a massive third period from the Bruins fueled Boston’s 6-3 victory over Team Teal.

The Bruins struck first via Vinni Lettieri early in the opening period. Later in the period, the Sharks evened things up at one on Barclay Goodrow’s fourth goal of the year, assisted by Nico Sturm and Ty Dellandrea. Boston went back ahead via David Pastrnak in the second period, only for the Sharks to respond soon after on Will Smith’s seventh goal of the season, assisted by Mikael Granlund. Later in the second period, Fabian Zetterlund scores on his own rebound for his 13th goal of the season. Will Smith assisted on the go-ahead goal by Zetterlund for his second point of the day.

However, the Bruins regained momentum after Charlie Coyle scored twice in the third period to go ahead 4-3. Boston wasn’t done yet, as they added two empty net goals from Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm to extend their lead to three and put this one away for good.

Yaroslav Askarov was back in net for San Jose, stopping 27 of 31 shots against, some of which were excellent and impressive. In addition, the Sharks activated Nikolai Kovalenko off of IR prior to this game but didn’t play. Timothy Liljegren is back from illness, while Marc-Eduoard Vlasic and Tyler Toffoli weren’t available for today’s game in Boston.

Not only was this the Sharks’ third consecutive loss, this was also their 14th straight defeat to the Bruins and eighth straight defeat at TD Garden in Boston. Things were going well for the Sharks through two periods of play, but the odds remained stacked against them and allowed this one to quickly escape their grasp towards the end of it. The Sharks conclude their current five-game road trip tomorrow in Nashville against the Predators in the first game of a home-and-home set at 5 pm PT.

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