The Sharks haven't had any home cooking in 13
days. They wrapped up their season-long 6-game road trip on Sunday night in
Vegas as they closed out the trip with a 5-4 shootout loss to the Golden
Knights at T-Mobile Arena. The Sharks battled back from another 2-goal deficit
in the 3rd period to earn a point, but they would run out of magic in the
shootout.
After their dismal start to their season, San Jose rallied
for a 3rd consecutive comeback, overcoming 3rd period deficits in each of those
games. They finished the trip by earning 7 out of 12 points in the standings to
revive their season. A comeback here or there is one thing, but to do it three
straight nights after their start was nothing short of remarkable.
Doing it against the defending Stanley Cup Champions shows that the Sharks may
be closer than many believed after their winless October.
The Sharks
decided to get things rolling early in Sunday nights game, scoring on the first
shot of the game just 29 seconds in. San Jose cycled the puck around the
perimeter to Mario Ferraro at the left point. The defenseman wound up on a shot
that found its way past goaltender Jiri Patera who was a call up after former
Shark Adin Hill was unable to go.
Ferraro's goal was his 1st of the
season and only the 2nd for a Sharks defenseman this season.
San Jose
held a slim 9-8 advantage in shots after the 1st period, but it was the goal
that mattered.
Jonathan Marchessault knotted the game at 5:34 of the
2nd period, converting on a 2-on-1 chance. Calen Addison failure to control the
puck in the offensive zone was magnified by the fact that Marchessault was
already past him. The Golden Knights forward gathered the puck and raced up the
left wing before snapping a shot short side past Kaapo Kahkonen for his 13th
goal of the season.
San Jose made things difficult themselves by
taking a pair of penalties in the frame. A holding penalty to Henry Thrun would
eventually bite San Jose when Chandler Stephenson redirected an Alex
Pietrangelo shot past Kahkonen at 15:44.
Brayden McNabb made things
more difficult for the Sharks when he took advantage of some loose defense by
San Jose. The Golden Knights forward weaved around a defender before snapping a
shot from the bottom of the left circle that caught the upper right corner of
the net.
An interference penalty to Zach Whitecloud setup a power play
goal by Mike Hoffman at 3:56 of the period. The Sharks forward gathered a
Granlund feed on the right wing before skating toward the net and flipping a
backhand shot that deflected off Kaedan Korczak's stick and past Patera to make
it a 3-2 game. Kahkonen was credited with the secondary assist on the goal.
Marchessault added his 2nd goal of the night at 9:23 when he swept a
Stephenson feed past Kahkonen from the slot. The Golden Knights forward was the
benefactor of a non-call on a takedown of Addison.
Addison made it a
4-3 game by scoring his 1st goal as a Shark with 3:46 to play. It was his 1st
goal in 54 games dating back to last season when he was with the Minnesota
Wild. Filip Zadina and Justin Bailey exchanged the puck as the Sharks entered
the Knights zone. Bailey dropped the puck to the trailing Addison, who snapped
the puck over Patera's shoulder.
The Sharks pulled Kahkonen with 2:33 to play, which
would work once again. Hoffman converted with 39 seconds remaining in
regulation on a tic-tac-toe thing of beauty. Alex Barabanov carried the puck to
the top of the left circle before hitting Tomas Hertl below the end line on the
left side. Hertl one-touched Barabanov's feed with a pass to the slot where
Hoffman punched it home for his 8th of the season.
In the overtime
period Mario Ferraro missed on a chance after crashing the net, which was
quickly countered by Jack Eichel breakaway that Kahkonen stopped. Jacob
MacDonald unleashed a shot right at the buzzer that Patera got a piece of to
get the game to the shootout.
In the skills competition Eichel and
Marchessault buried their chances where Kevin Labanc and Mikael Granlund
didn't.
Game Notes: * William Eklund was a late scratch
with what the Sharks are calling a lower body injury. the Rookie forward was on
the ice for the pre-game skate, but was shelved right before the start of the
game. Givani Smith got back into the lineup as a result of Eklund's issue.
* Marc-Edouard Vlasic was a scratch so that he could attend to a
personal matter. HEnry Thrun was recalled on Saturday and took Vlasic's spot
among the defensive corps.
* Anthony Duclair was injured when Keegan
Kolisar through a shoulder into the side of the Shark forward's head in the 2nd
period. Duclair was clearly in discomfort after making his way to the bench. He
did not return.
* San Jose out-shot an opponent once again. Jacob
MacDonald, Fabian Zetterlund and Kevin Labanc all had 4 shots to lead San Jose.
* The Sharks dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 39 of 62 draws
for a 63% edge.