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2nd period relapse sinks Sharks
Kraken scores 4 goals on first 5 shots in middle frame
1/30/2025 - By Mike Lee

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.


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Scoring
1 2 3 T
SJ 1 0 1 2
SEA 1 4 1 6
1st period - 1, SEA, Stephenson 9 (Bjorkstrand, Tolvanen), 3:55. 2, SJ, Grundstrom 2 (Smith, Granlund), 17:55.
2nd period - 2, SEA, Bjorkstrand 15 (Stephenson, Dunn), 2:03. 4, SEA, Montour 9 (Wright), 2:54. 5, SEA, Schwartz 18 (Olesiak), 5:58. 6, SEA, Montour 10 (McCann, Stephenson), 7:52, (pp).
3rd period - 7, SJ, Toffoli 18 (Celebrini, Thrun), 8:06. 8, SEA, Tolvanen 15 (Mahura), 12:18.
Penalties
1st period - None.
2nd period - Schwartz, SEA (tripping), 3:47; Kovalenko, SJ (roughing), 6:39; Thrun, SJ (fighting major) 6:39; Dunn, SEA (fighting major), 6:39; Kunin, SJ (tripping), 7:27.
3rd period - Beniers, SEA (holding), 15:05.
Goaltending
Shots Saves
SJ - Askarov 11 7
SJ - Georgiev 21 19
SEA - Daccord 28 26
Shots On Goal
1 2 3 T
SJ 11 9 8 28
SEA 8 17 7 32
Power Play Conversion
SJ 0 of 2
SEA 1 of 2
3 Stars of the Game
Brandon Montour
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Chandler Stephenson
Attendance
Climate Pledge Arena - 17,151
Officials
Referees: #25 Pierre Lambert, #34 Brandon Schrader. Linesmen: #57 Justin Johnson, #55 Kyle Flemington.





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