Tomas Hertl and his fun must be always flair
made his return to SAP Center for the first time since being traded by the
Sharks to the Vegas Golden Knights. Hertl spent parts of 11 seasons in San
Jose, arriving a bright-eyed kid from the Czech Republic in 2013. Hertl played
in 37 games his first season, scoring 15 goals in his inaugural season. On
Friday night, he returned as a veteran and father, but still carrying his
infectious positivity. The Sharks found a way to rain on the vibe.
Hertl didn't factor into any of the scoring in the game, which was something
the Sharks can't forget soon enough. The Sharks held a 3-2 lead entering the
3rd period, before coughing up 4 unanswered goals to lose 6-3.
Credit
the Golden Knights, who lead the league in comeback wins, but this is still a
Sharks team that seems incapable of playing with any ferocity when it counts
late. It was yet another blown 3rd period led.
Vegas moves to 13-0-3
all time against San Jose at SAP Center. San Jose has yet to beat Vegas in
regulation in their own barn in 16 tries. That abysmal record is more a
reflection of the sad state of affairs in San Jose rather than any dominance by
the Golden Knights.
As has been the case in 7 of the last 8 games, the
opposition has out-scored San Jose in the 3rd period.
The Sharks had a
nice span of pressure in the Vegas zone, but they could not get a puck past
former Sharks goaltender Adin Hill.
Vegas broke the scoreless tie 6:58
into the game when Noah Hanifin took a drop pass from Victor Olofsson as the
Knights skated into the Sharks zone with a 3-on-2 skater advantage. The
trailing Hanifin floated down the slot and snapped a shot over Alexandar
Georgiev's glove hand for his 5th of the season.
Rookie defenseman Shakir Mukahadullin tied the game
with his 1st career NHL goal at 14:40. The Russian defenseman wound up on a
shot from the left point. Former Sharks goaltender Adin Hill got a piece of the
shot with his right pad, but the momentum carried up and over Hill's skate.
The Golden Knights scored a controversial goal at 3:27 of the 2nd
period when Victor Olofosson put a puck on net before Mark Stone fished the
rebound off Georgiev's pad and lifted a backhand chance past the Sharks
netminder. Sharks forward Mikael Granlund was hauled down with a slew-foot by
Jack Eichel moments before the goal was scored, which should have halted play
before Vegas converted, but referees Brandon Schrader and Chris Lee kept their
whistles tucked in their pockets.
San Jose re-tied the game less than
3 minutes later when Will Smith stuffed home a puck from the doorstep as he was
being checked in to the net. Smith and Macklin Celebrini's chemistry is
something to behold this early in their careers. Smith moved the puck to his
linemate with a behind the back pass, then Celebrini countered with a nifty
pass across the top of the crease which Smith deposited.
Tyler Toffoli
gave the Sharks their first lead of the night at 15:57, aided by some puck
luck. The Sharks forward was stationed along the end boards when he threw a
puck toward the right post. The puck hit Hill in the slate and deflected into
the Golden Knights goal for his team leading 14th goal of the season.
The horror that is 3rd period Sharks hockey didn't take long to manifest
itself. Things started promisingly for San Jose who were about to go on the
power play as a Mario Ferraro penalty to end the 2nd period was about to
expire. With Alexander Holtz in the box for tripping, Ferraro stepped on the
ice and took one stride before Brayden McNabb steamed in on net and put a shot
past Georgiev to tie it at 3-3.
Surrendering one shorthanded goal on
the same penalty wasn't enough for the Sharks. They immediately buckled as
Eichel raced past the Sharks defense and scored his 10th of the season 23
seconds after McNabb's goal.
Pavel Dorofeyev watched what McNabb and
Eichel did and figured out that getting the puck anywhere near the crease was
likely going to end up over the goal line. That was the case as the young
Russian streaked across the top of the Sharks crease and slid the puck past
Georgiev for a 5-3 lead at 5:46.
Brett Howden scored an empty net goal
to cap the game's scoring.
Game Notes: * The Sharks
welcomed Tomas Hertl back to SAP Center with a video tribute they played before
the start of the game. Hertl played in 712 games for San Jose, scoring 218
goals and adding 266 assists over parts of 11 seasons.
* Macklin
Celebrini extended his scoring streak to 3 games with his assist on Will
Smith's 2nd period goal. Celebrini has 4 assists during that span. That is the
longest active scoring streak for San Jose.
* Smith and Celebrini
became Tik Tok stars over the Christmas break when they posted a video
mimicking a video that LeBron James posted. In both videos, the hockey and
basketball players are shooting basketballs at a kids hoop.
* The
Sharks were without forward William Eklund and defenseman Jake Walman who are
both nursing injuries. Klim Kostin came off the injured reserve but was a
scratch on Friday night. The Sharks moved goaltender Vitek Vanecek to the
injured reserve, while the netminder nurses the injury he sustained after
taking a puck to the head while sitting on the bench.
* Fabian
Zetterlund recorded his 100th career NHL point.
