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Sharks fall flatter than an Ohio landscape
Blue Jackets easily handle lifeless opponent
1/16/2025 - By Mike Lee

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.


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Scoring
1 2 3 T
SJ 0 0 1 1
CBJ 2 1 1 4
1st period - 1, CBJ, Fantilli 11 (Werenski), 12:11. 2, CBJ, Johnson 12 (Kuraly), 16:17.
2nd period - 3, CBJ, Van Riemsdyk 7 (Severson, Johnson), 6:37.
3rd period - 4, SJ, Toffoli 17 (Celebrini, Eklund), 7:32. 5, CBJ, Van Riemsdyk 8 (Marchenko), 17:59, (en).
Penalties
1st period - Sillinger, CBJ (high sticking), 1:42.
2nd period - Toffoli, SJ (high sticking), 8:23; Mateychuk, CBJ (holding), 15:37; Johnson, CBJ (hooking), 20:00.
3rd period - Liljegren, SJ (hooking), 9:27.
Goaltending
Shots Saves
SJ - Georgiev 33 30
SJ - empty net 1 0
CBJ - Merzlikins 19 18
Shots On Goal
1 2 3 T
SJ 6 2 11 19
CBJ 13 12 9 34
Power Play Conversion
SJ 0 of 3
CBJ 0 of 2
3 Stars of the Game
James Van Riemsdyk
Kent Johnson
Elvis Merzlikins
Attendance
Nationwide Arena - 15,943
Officials
Referees: #23 Corey Syvret, #21 TJ Luxmore. Linesmen: #60 Libor Suchanek, #59 Steve Barton.





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