All the positive energy from the Sharks 6-2
victory over the Detroit Red Wings to start their 5-game road trip did little
to help San Jose in Columbus on Thursday. In what can only be described as a
flat and lifeless performance, the Sharks dropped a 4-1 decision to the
suddenly resurgent Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Columbus won for the 6th
consecutive game, while the Sharks continue to set up shop in the NHL basement.
The Sharks finished the game with 19 shots on goal, which included 2
shots in the 2nd period. 8 shots through the first 40 minutes of the contest
tells the real story. A frantic attempt to mount a comeback in the 3rd period
was too little, tool late. To contrast that, Columbus controlled all 60
minutes, dictating play all night with an aggressive forecheck and backcheck
that San Jose had no answer for.
The Sharks had little to write home
about offensively in the opening period. They registered a pair of shots
through the first 10 minutes of the frame, where the Blue Jackets put plenty of
rubber on Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.
One of the first 9 shots found the back of the San
Jose net after Adam Fantilli redirected a Zach Werenski feed off a 2-on-1 break
at 12:11. Macklin Celebrini turned the puck over to Werenski in the Sharks
Columbus zone before the Blue Jackets assistant captain raced up the left wing
to setup Fantilli.
Mario Ferraro was a bit too casual with the puck
behind his own net late in the period, allowing Sean Kuraly to swoop in an
force a turnover around the Sharks net. Kuraly found Kent Johnson cutting on
the left wing with a pass that the Blue Jackets centerman promptly deposited
past Georgiev for his 12th goal of the season.
Columbus picked up in
the 2nd period where they left off. James Van Riemsdyk pushed the Blue Jackets
lead to 3 goals by tipping a Cole Silinger shot at 6:37. Van Riemsdyk was
floating in the slot when Silinger fired a shot on net from the right point.
San Jose made things easy on Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins
by not registering a shot on goal in the period until the 10:44 mark. They
would go on the power play at 15:37 after Denton Mateychuk was called for
holding but they would not register a shot on the man advantage.
The
Sharks did start the 3rd period with a full 2 minute power play after Johnson
was called for hooking in the closing moments of the prior period. They would
do nothing with the man-advantage, but San Jose would cut into the Blue Jackets
lead 5 minutes later.
Tyler Toffoli finally cracked Merzlikins from
the doorstep after Celebrini snapped a pass to him from the left wing boards.
Toffoli gathered Celebrini's feed while parked on the top of the Columbus
crease before slipping it home for his 17th of the season.
Van
Riemsdyk capped the scoring with an empy-net goal late.
Game
Notes: * Marc-Edouard Vlasic played in his 1,300th career NHL game.
It was only the 4th game of the season for the blueliner who returned from an
injury on January 2nd. He sat 3 straight games before getting back into the
lineup in Detroit on Tuesday.
* William Eklund (1 goal, 3 assists) and
Macklin Celebrini (3 assists) extended their scoring streaks to 3 games.
Celebrini notched his 32nd point of the season with the primary assist on Tyler
Toffoli's goal. Eklund now has 35 points on the season.
* With his 3rd
period goal, Tyler Toffoli has 2 goals and 2 assists on the current road trip.
* Columbus finished the game with 61 shot attempts (34 shots, 10
missed shots, and 17 blocked shots).
* San Jose travels to Brooklyn to
take on the Islanders on Saturday, which also marks the midway mark for the
road trip.