48 hours after their gut-punch opening night
loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Sharks turned another 3rd period 2-goal
lead into an overtime loss. Saturday's disaster came at the hands of the
Anaheim Ducks who came looking for their first win of the season. They would
put 7 pucks past Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, including a Leo Carlsson
shot that found the back of the net 45 seconds into the overtime period after
Macklin Celebrini coughed up the puck on the opposite end of the rink.
Celebrini's youthful exuberance got the better part of decision making on the
fateful final sequence of the game. Carrying the puck into the Ducks zone,
Celebrini elected to try and split two defenders up the middle of the ice,
rather than take a safer route around the wings. He gave up the puck to former
Shark Mikael Granlund who moved it up ice to Carlsson who converted for his 3rd
point of the game.
San Jose leads four times in the game, including a
pair of 2-goal advantages that they let slip away with an about face to the
nice defensive game they played on Thursday.
More hard lessons for a
team that has been beaten over the head with them the last two seasons.
Starting the new campaign with more of the same is a tough pill to swallow, but
the Sharks need to learn and correct.
The leads were plenty and
promising.
Tyler Toffoli staked the Sharks to the early lead by
ripping a Will Smith feed from the slot, beating Petr Mrazek for his 1st goal
of the young season. Celebrini was credited with the secondary assist, which
came after he forced a delayed tripping penalty while entering the Ducks zone.
The points were the first of the season for Toffoli, Smith and Celebrini.
Ryan Reaves introduced himself to the San Jose faithful by extending
the Sharks lead with an improbable goal. The Sharks tough guy gathered an Adam
Gaudette feed as he steamed up the left wing before curling to the net and
lifting a shot past Mrazek for the 2-0 lead.
Anaheim responded before
PA announce Johnny Miller could share the details of Reaves goal when Cutter
Gauthier ripped a shot from the high slot past Yaroslav Askarov. Gauthier was
between the circles with Nick Leddy draped all over him, but he was able to get
the shot off. Askarov probably should have stopped the unscreened shot, but it
found a seam.
A Dmitry Orlov tripping penalty setup the Ducks to tie
the game 3 minutes later. Rookie Beckett Sennecke scored his 2nd career NHL
goal in as many games on the ensuing power play. The youngster was parked at
the top of the crease where he collected the rebound off a Mason McTavish
chance by kicking the puck to his stick where he punched it home.
Sensing a shift in momentum. Reaves took matters into his own hands by fighting
Ross Johnston in a spirited scrap. That helped the Sharks steady the ship but
the on-ice officiating made it more difficult.
John Klingberg was sent
off with an iffy holding penalty with under 4 minutes remaining in the period
but his teammates killed the critical penalty. Adam Gaudette was called for a
phantom cross checking penalty 2:36 into the second period, further preventing
the Sharks from establishing any momentum.
Mario Ferraro helped change
that when he punched home a loose puck off a scrum in front of the Ducks net at
5:21. Smith and Celebrini each earned their 2nd assists of the night on the
goal.
San Jose lost track of Alex Killorn on the next
shift and San Jose allowed Anaheim to re-tie the game less than a minute later.
Former Sharks forward Mikael Granlund grabbed a turnover in the Anaheim zone
and saw Killorn sprinting up ice, so he lobbed a lead pass from 100 feet away.
Killorn gathered the feed and raced in on Askarov uncontested, easily
depositing his 1st of the season home.
Olen Zellweger was called for
hooking at 8:54, then Frank Vatrano lofted a puck over the glass to join his
teammate in the penalty box 64 seconds later. The Sharks used the 2-man
advantage to retake the lead when John Klingberg blasted a shot from the high
slot that beat Mrazek glove side.
A high sticking penalty to Mason
McTavish setup the sharks 2nd goal of the night. Newcomer Adam Gaudette
one-timed an Alex Wennberg feed with a shot from the bottom of the right circle
to make it a 5-3 Sharks lead.
Timothy Liljegren took an interference
penalty with 1:53 remaining in the period. It was an ill-timed penalty as new
Duck Chris Kreider punched home a rebound from the doorstep at 19:29 to allow
the Ducks to claw back to within a single goal with 20 minutes to play.
Jeff Skinner helped the Sharks establish some breathing room 5:34 into
the 3rd period when he collected a puck in his skates near the bottom of the
left circle before pivoting 180 degrees ad snapping a shot past Mrazek.
Skinner's goal wasn't enough. Gauthier scored his 2nd goal of the game
at 10:29 of the period to cut the sharks lead to a singe goal once again.
Kreider punched home his 2nd of the game with 51 seconds left in regulation
after head coach Joel Quenneville pulled Mrzek late.
Cele
Game Notes: * Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith were held off the
score sheet in the Sharks opener on Thursday, but they made up for by recording
3 assists each on Saturday night. Dmitry Orlov added a pair of assists to give
him 3 on the season.
* Sam Dickinson's parents were in attendance to
see their son's NHL debut. Dickinson skated 18 shifts, logging 12:08 of ice
time. The rookie was a +1, but recorded no shots or hits.
* On the
lighter side, Dickinson quipped earlier in the day that his brother was
organizing a watch party at the family home in Canada, but his parents were not
* Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov gave up a bushel of goals, but his
teammates also gave up a bushel of shots. Anaheim recorded 43 shots to San
Jose's 23. The 2-to-1 disparity didn't help the young goaltender, but he also
has to be better about limiting soft goals. 3 of the 7 were tallies that found
their way through Askarov.
* Mario Ferraro was blown up on a hit from
behind in the 3rd period that required some attention on the bench. The Sharks
defenseman was clutching his right shoulder and was wincing in obvious pain on
the Sharks bench.
