The euphoria of the start of the season has
clearly worn out its welcome in San Jose. After turning into decent outings to
start the season, the Sharks let the 12,786 in attendance know that they're
still a team in transition, knee deep in a rebuild. The Carolina Hurricanes are
on the opposite end of the win-lose spectrum and they let the Sharks know it on
Tuesday as they out-classed the Sharks in a 5-1 decision at SAP Center.
The game marked rookie forward Michael Misa's NHL debut, but Carolina
goaltender Brandon Bussi upstaged Misa in his own debut, beating the Sharks on
a 16 save performance.
In what was a reminder of what San Jose hockey
used to look like, Carolina toyed with the Sharks all night and were simply
better from top to bottom. The Sharks made it a fight for the first 30 minutes,
then a bushel of goals took the wind out of their sails.
The
Hurricanes would score 4 unanswered after the Sharks tied the game early in the
2nd period. San Jose did not register a single shot on goal in the 3rd period.
San Jose enjoyed a trio of power play chances in the opening period,
but rookie goaltender Brandon Bussi kept the puck out of his own net. The third
chance ended early when Will Smith was forced to slash Sebastian Aho on a
short-handed breakaway chance.
Even with the 3 power play chances, the
Sharks were out-shot in the period 14-8.
The disparity on shots was
also indicative of the superior puck movement and control put on display by the
Hurricanes. San Jose was able to disguise it with the disparity in power play
time in the opening period.
The Hurricanes finally took advantage of
their skill by pumping a puck past Alex Nedeljkovic 84 seconds into the 2nd
period. Defenseman Sean Walker unloaded on a shot from the blueline that may
have fooled the Sharks netminder as the logical choice for Walker was to fire
the shot to the left side of the net and use a teammates screen. Walker elected
to go short side for his 1st of the season.
William Eklund bagged his
1st goal of the year 3 minutes later, putting a shot between Bussi's pads from
the high slot.
Former Vegas Golden Knight William Carrier put the
Hurricanes back on top with 5:46 to play in the middle period when he brute
forced the puck off rookie defenseman Sam Dickinson's stick and into the net
for his 1st goal of the season. Dickinson gathered a loose puck in the crease
after Alexander Nikishin put a shot off Nedeljkovic. The youngster tried to
tuck the puck up against Nedeljkovic for a stoppage but Carrier bulldogged it
over the goal line for the 2-1 Hurricanes lead.
The Sharks came within
a hair of tying the game just past the 18 minute mark when Adam Gaudette put an
attempt on net from the doorstep. Bussi made the save then Carolina moved the
puck up ice quickly where Eric Robinson slipped it between Nedeljkovic's pads
to pad the lead to 2 goals.
The Hurricanes threw numbers at Nedeljkovic early in
the 3rd period, which ended with Shane Gostibehere burying a shot from the slot
after he beat Michael Misa up the ice.
Logan Stankoven just missed on
a chance the very next shift which prompted Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky to
use his timeout so he could unload on his players from the bench. Warsofsky was
visibly irritated with his team's effort.
Jackson Blake scored his 1st
goal of the season at the 7:25 to put the Sharks out of their misery.
On the bright side, the Sharks did not surrender a power play goal, stopping
all 3 Carolina chances. They also failed to score on 5 chances of their own on
the man advantage.
Game Notes: * Michael Misa, the
Sharks 2025 1st round draft pick (2nd overall), made his NHL debut on Tuesday
night for San Jose. The rookie forward has been chomping at the bit to get into
the lineup after sitting the first two games of the season.
* Misa
finished the contest with 15:06 of ice time on 18 shifts. He would register a
lone shot attempt that sailed wide of the net and registered one giveaway. He
blocked 2 shots and was 2-for-2 on draws.
* Goaltender Brandon Bussi
made his NHL debut in the contest making 16 saves or his fist career NHL
victory. Alex Nedeljkovic was forced to face 43 shots. He would stop 38 of
them.
* Rookie defenseman Sam Dickinson was a -3 in the game and his
inexperience shined like the north star. The blueliner was a step behind all
night and failed to cover the puck William Carrier's goal, which gave the
Hurricanes the lead for good.
* The league's best penalty killers last
season held the Sharks power play to an 0-for-5 night with the man
advantage.
