The San Jose Sharks came alive a little bit too late Saturday night.
With the Sharks looking listless for most of the first two periods and trailing the Columbus Blue Jackets by two goals, defenseman Henry Thrun scored at the 11:42 mark of the third period to give his team a badly needed spark.
But the Sharks could not find the equalizer as Columbus goalie Daniil Tarasov made 39 saves to help hand San Jose a 4-2 loss on Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
After the Sharks pulled goalie Magnus Chrona for the extra attacker, Alex Nylander scored an empty net goal with 1:05 left in regulation time to seal the Blue Jackets victory.
“Just really not engaged physically,” Sharks coach David Quinn said of the first period. “I thought we give them way too much room, way too much respect. It was easy for them, too easy.
“But I thought as the game went on, we got more engaged, we were more physical when we needed to be.”
The Sharks now continue their road trip Sunday in Chicago against Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks.
“We’ve got to get ready from the start. Our first period is not acceptable,” said Sharks winger Fabian Zetterlund, who scored his 18th of the season in the second period, of Saturday’s loss. “We know that and we’ve got to get better for tomorrow’s game.”
Chrona, making his fifth straight start for the Sharks with Mackenzie Blackwood still on injured reserve, finished with 16 saves as San Jose lost for the 12th time in 13 games.
The Sharks were down 2-0 in the second period when Zetterlund scored at the 11:48 mark to cut the Blue Jackets’ lead to one.
But Johnny Gaudreau scored the eventual game-winner just 3:15 later, collecting a loose puck off the end boards and beating Chrona to give Columbus its two-goal lead back.
Nylander and Gaudreau each had three points and linemate Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist in the win.
The Blue Jackets (23-33-11) have now beaten the Sharks (16-43-7) in five of their last six meetings dating back to the start of the 2021-2022 season.
Mikael Granlund and Mario Ferraro assisted on Zetterlund’s goal, and Kevin Labanc assisted on Thrun’s goal for his first point in 10 games since Jan. 13 when he scored against the Ottawa Senators.
The Sharks lost 4-3 to the Blue Jackets on Feb. 17 in San Jose, as Jenner scored with 13 seconds left in the third period to put Columbus ahead to stay.
The loss was the first of nine straight for the Sharks, who entered Saturday in last place in the NHL’s overall standings. The Blackhawks (18-44-5) are the NHL’s 31st-place team.
Chrona entered Saturday with a 1-3-1 record and a .897 save percentage in five games this month. He started the first two games of this road trip, losses to the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins, in which he stopped 63 of 71 shots for a .887 save percentage.
INJURY UPDATE: Defenseman Jan Rutta and forward Mike Hoffman, both injured, sat out another game Saturday. Rutta has missed four straight games with a lower-body injury and it’s unclear if he’ll be available to play Sunday in Chicago or Tuesday in Nashville. Hoffman (mouth injury) missed his third straight game.
WELCOME BACK: Jacob MacDonald returned to San Jose’s lineup after he was too ill to play Thursday, leaving the Sharks with five defensemen. MacDonald was paired with Kyle Burroughs to start Saturday’s game.
With MacDonald back in the lineup, the Sharks dressed 12 forwards instead of 13 and Givani Smith was scratched from the lineup.
Curtis Pashelka
Source link
