The Sharks have had issues scoring this season
but they may have provided a glimpse of the future on Monday night as the
Sharks held on for a 5-4 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings at SAP
Center. William Eklund scored a pair of goals and Macklin Celebrini potted the
game winner 46 seconds into the overtime period on a highlight reel play.
It was only the 4th time in their first 20 games that San Jose scored
4 or more goals in a game. The timing could not have been better as the upstart
Red Wings scratched out a point by scoring late in the game to get to the
overtime after the Sharks had essentially shut them down in the 3rd period.
Celebrini collected the puck from Mikael Granlund at the Red Wings
blueline then drove to the net on the left side. The kid then snapped a
wrist-shot that squeezed between Talbot's torso and his left arm. The Sharks
bench erupted as the puck hit the back of the net.
It was Celebrini's
first career game winning goal.
The goal was setup by 4 tallies by the
Sharks in regulation.
The Red Wings drew first blood when Detroit
captain Dylan Larkin gathered a Simon Edvinsson feed before lifting a backhand
shot past Mackenzie Blackwood. Larkin was parked in the slot an had nothing
between him and Blackwood, scoring his 11th goal of the season.
Jeff
Petry was sent off for holding at 9:02 and the Sharks took advantage of the
32nd ranked penalty kill. William Eklund converted his 3rd goal of the season
on the man advantage after centerman Alexander Wennberg bounced a shot off
goaltender Cam Talbot. Eklund was driving the slot when the rebound landed
right on his stick for the puck back that slid between Talbot's pads.
Edvinsson was sent off for interference at 14:15, but former Red Wing
defenseman Jake Walman was forced to take an interference penalty in an attempt
to break up a 2-on-1 break. Walman tried swatting a puck away as Lucas Raymond
and Jonatan Berggren raced up ice, but he missed. The two Red Wings exchanged
the puck twice on their way to the net, but a third attempt was mishandled to
negate the prime scoring chance for Detroit.
San Jose was called for
too many men with 2:22 remaining in the period. The second power play chance
turned out to be the charm for Detroit. Marco Kasper pumped a shot from the
right side after Erik Gustafsson put a shot off Blackwood.
The Sharks
inability to start a period strong carried forward to the 2nd, where they
stumbled their way through the first 5 minutes of play. If not for some
Blackwood acrobatics, the Sharks would have been down by a pair of goals or
more.
Eklund knotted the game at 5:59 by ripping a shot from the left
wing boards that Talbot appeared to have a bead on, but the puck hit the
netminder in the glove and kept on going.
Things turned upside down at
8:11 when the Sharks scored on themselves. Wennberg skated the puck out of the
right corner toward his own net, then lost the handle. The puck hit defenseman
Henry Thrun in the skate before changing direction and slipping past Blackwood
to put the Red Wings right back on top.
JT Compher almost scored 4
minutes later after he stripped Macklin Celebrini at the Detroit blueline and
raced up ice on an uncontested breakaway. Compher's shot attempt sailed over
the crossbar to keep it a 1-goal game.
Tyler Toffoli tied the game
with 42 seconds left in the period on a one-time chance from out front.
Wennberg skated the puck to the end line below the right circle before flipping
it back to the slot where Toffoli was setup for the quick shot to beat Talbot.
Luke Kunin gave the Sharks their first lead of the night 6:19 into the
3rd period by lifting a shot from the right side as he skated toward the right
post. Carl Grundstrom setup the goal with a lead pass from the left side.
Things got interesting late when Ty Dellandrea took
an ill-advised tripping penalty with 3:26 left in regulation. The Sharks had
held the Red Wings to 2 shots in the period up to that point, but the power
play gave Detroit the opportunity they needed to tie the game.
Alex
DeBrincat scored at 17:54 on the power play when he put his own rebound past
Blackwood after Mario Ferraro denied the initial attempt with a sliding save.
It wasn't his best performance of the season by Blackwood's 16 saves
stood up in the end.
Game Notes: * Macklin Celebrini
led all skaters with 6 shots on goal. He combined with Tyler Toffoli and Carl
Grundstrom to account for 14 of the sharks 34 shots. Fabian Zetterlund and Ty
Dellandrea were the only Shark forwards who did not record a shot on goal.
* In addition to Celebrini's first NHL game winning goal, it was his
first overtime goal.
* William Eklund (2 goals and 4 assists) and
Fabian Zetterlund (1 goal, 3 assists) have points in 4 straight games. Mikael
Granlund (1 goal, 1 assist), Jake Walman (2 assists) and Ty Dellandrea (2
assists) have points in 2 straight games.
* The Sharks controlled the
faceoff circle, winning 34 of 62 draws (55%).
* Carl Grundstrom played
a yeoman's game, contributing an assist, 4 shots anf 5 hits on only 12 shifts /
8:26 of ice time. He had the primary assist on the Luke Kunin goal.
