The Sharks kicked off a quick 2-game road trip
on Wednesday night, but an absentee gap in the game would cost them as they
dropped a 5-2 decision to the host Dallas Stars at the American Airlines
Center. San Jose surrendered a pair of goals in the middle peroid, which backed
them into a corner that they couldn't fight their way out of. The Sharks
dropped their 11th game in regulation and 15th overall in 21 games this season.
Playing a full 60 minute contest just doesn't seem to be in the DNA of
this Sharks roster. Granted Dallas is a tough opponent, but they've struggled
early this season and even lost to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night. As has
become all too familiar, the Sharks were the corrective opponent for a team
that lost a game prior.
That and familiar mistakes ended up dooming
the Sharks.
The Sharks spent the first half of the 1st period killing
a pair of separate penalties. First Henry Thru was whistled for lobbing the
puck over the glass, then Klim Kostin was sent off for tripping. The Thrun
penalty was an odd one in that everyone lost sight of the puck.
The
Sharks had a power play of their own at 11:29 when Matt Dumba was sent off for
holding. Cody Ceci rang a shot off the crossbar, but that's as close as San
Jose would come to scoring.
That was felt a little more 4 minutes
later when Jason Robertson gathered a puck in the slot then spun 180 to this
left and fired a shot past Mackenzine Blackwood. The sharks had coughed the
puck up in their own zone moments earlier, then had four defenders back up to
the front of the net rather than forcing the issue with the Stars offense.
Henry Thrun made his second trip to the penalty box at 17:18 when he
caught Jamie Benn with a high stick. That penalty turned out to work for the
Sharks when William Eklund scooped up a loose puck along the boards then led
Mikael Granlund with a lead pass up ice. Granlund beat Jake Oettinger on the
short-handed breakaway to tie the game at 1-1.
Wyatt Johnston helped
Dallas reclaim the lead just 56 seconds into the 2nd period on a textbook
Sharks miscue. Another turnover by the Sharks ends up in their own net, this
one coming in the neutral zone. Roope Hintz lifted a lead past Mario Ferraro
from the left side to the streaking Johnston who pulled the puck back to this
right before snapping a shot past Blackwood from outside the left post.
The sharks just seemed to go into hibernation at that point. The Stars
were motivated to right an undesirable performance against the Anaheim Ducks in
their last game, but the Sharks response was to sit back and defend from a
motionless posture.
Jamie Benn took advantage of that by forcing a
turnover behind the sharks net, then cycling to the front of the net before
taking a Logan Stankoven feed and firing it past Blackwood from 8 feet out.
Jake Walman made it a 1-goal game 13:24 into the 3rd period by taking
a Granlund feed on the right side before snapping it past Oettinger from 25
feet out.
The Sharks pulled Blackwood late but they couldn't score the
equalizer. The Stars used the empty net to pot a pair of goals to push the
score farther than the contest actually was.
Roope Hintz and Evgeni
Dadonov were the two lucky Stars to pad their personal goal stats with the
empty net tallies.
Game Notes: * It was November 30th,
2005 when the Sharks decided to acquire a goofy centerman from the Boston
Bruins. The Sharks were in Dallas that night, where they lost 4-1 to the Stars.
* Vitek Vanacek traveled with the team, but was a scratch on Wednesday
night. Yaroslav Askarov served as Mackenzie Blackwood's backup. It's unclear if
the Sharks will go to Askarov on Thursday night as they have a quick turnaround
and will play the St Louis Blues.
* Defenseman Jake Walman led the
Sharks with 5 shots on goal in the contest.
* Mikael Granlund appeared
to be shaken up in the 3rd period after taking an elbow to the face. The Sharks
leading scorer had to limp off the ice while play was live. He was then
required to go through concussion protocol with 2:30 remaining in the game.
* Mackenzie Blackwood finished the game with 26 saves. It was an
usually low shot count for the Sharks netminder.
