There is much to be hopeful for in San Jose,
but games like Thursday's 6-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken may make that harder
to believe in. After a fairly competitive opening period at Climate Pledge
Arena in Seattle, the Sharks let their collective guards down and let the
Kraken score 4 goals on their first 5 shots of the middle period. It was more
evidence that the young undermanned Sharks roster has a ways to go before
they'll be truly competitive in the NHL.
Their opponent has had their
own struggles this season, but Seattle was still head and shoulders better than
the disheveled Sharks lineup. The Kraken have underachieved this season, but
were still able to smack the Sharks around in the period of death.
San
Jose is riddled with holed in their game and it was put on full display on
Thursday night.
Chandler Stephenson staked the Kraken to the 1-0 lead
4 minutes into the game with a blast from the rights side off the rush. Oliver
Bjorkstrand caught Macklin Celebrini pinching when he hit Stephenson with a
long diagonal pass from the left side. Stephenson easily blew past the Sharks
defenders before depositing his 9th of the season with a shot under Yaroslav
Askarov's glove hand.
Jared McCann just missed making it a 2-0 game
when a shot from the right side caromed off the end boards, bouncing right to
the Kraken forward on the off wing. He unloaded the shot from a tighter angle
then he would have preferred sliding it behind Askarov but in front of both
posts.
The hockey gods were smiling down on the Sharks late in the
period when a Carl Grundstrom pass attempt deflected off Shane Wright's left
skate and past goaltender Joey Daccord. Grundstrom was trying to return the
puck to Will Smith on the left side but his pass caught the skate before
elevating to the upper left corner of the Kraken goal.
The wheels
would fall off the bus for San Jose in the 2nd period.
Seattle struck
for two quick goals early in the 2nd period to reclaim the lead. Bjorkstrand
swatted a puck out of the air after a Stephenson chance deflected off a Shark
skate.
Brandon Montour would score the first of his two goals 51
seconds later after Walker Duehr's careless handling of the puck in the Sharks
zone turned into a goal. Wright intercepted Duehr's fumble near the side boards
before sliding it to Montour who took two strides toward the net and uncorked a
blast that caught the left post for his 9th of the season.
The Sharks
went on the power play after Jaden Schwartz was called for tripping Mikael
Granlund. San Jose controlled the puck inside the Kraken zone for the entire 2
minutes, but they could not get it past Daccord.
Jamie Oleksiak gained control of the puck just as
Schwartz penalty expired and the defenseman sent it up ice for a breakaway
chance. Schwartz steamed in on net and deposited the 3rd goal of the period on
their Kraken's 3rd shot of the frame.
That was the end of Askarov's
night. He would surrender 4 goals on 11 shots and surrender his crease to
Alexander Georgiev.
Georgiev was handed as difficult a situation as
they come after Luke Kunin started a melee behind the Kraken goal. With fists
flying all over the ice, Nikolai Kovalenko was somehow singeled out for a
roughing minor to give the Kraken their first power play of the night at
6:39.
Kunin would then proceed to trip Stephenson to setup a Seattle
5-on-3. Montour easily converted on the 2-man advantage to make it a 5-1 game.
Tyler Toffoli scored his team leading 18th goal at 8:06 of the 3rd
period, but it was a meaningless tally. The Sharks forward collected a
Celebrini feed from the right wing boards as he skated through the slot.
Toffoli then pivoted to his left to face the net and whipped a shot past
Daccord.
Eeli Tolvanen unloaded an uncontested shot from the high slot
to make it a 6-2 game 4 minute after Toffoli's goal to push the Kraken lead
back to 4-goals.
Game Notes: * Mario Ferraro appeared
to injure his ankle late in the 2nd period. The Sharks are already heavy on the
injured reserve.
* Nikolai Kovalenko was injured in the 2nd period and
did not return.
* Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky indicated that Jan
Rutta, Klim Kostin and Nico Sturm would be out until after the upcoming 4
Nations Tournament. That means the trio will have until February 23rd to gheal
up.
* San Jose assigned Vitek Vanecek to the San Jose Barracuda as a
conditioning assignment. The goaltender has been out since December 17th, when
he was struck in the face with a puck while sitting on the Sharks bench during
their game against Winnipeg.
* Mikael Granlund was named an assistant
captain for Team Finland's 4 Nations Tournament Team. Finland opens the
tournament against Team USA on February 13th.
* After watching their
son's play at SAP Center on Monday the Sharks dads made the trek to Seattle for
the annual dad's game. Players and fathers enjoyed dinner as a group on
Wednesday night.