Trick or Treat, San Jose got a treat on Halloween night at the Tank

Sharks roster celebrating a win over the Blackhawks on Oct 31, 2024 at SAP Center in San Jose (Photo by San Jose Sharks Media Relations)

By Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE, CA –– To keep the momentum going, the San Jose Sharks (3-7-2) added another win in the regular season against a Chicago Blackhawk (3-7-1) team with a similar record. Thursday night, Connor Bedard did not do his magic, and once again, San Jose is proving to the Bay Area to be something exceptional winning their third straight game edging the Blackhawks 3-2 .

The Sharks opened up the first period with Will Smith netting the first of the night and adding the first points in his NHL career at the 6:52 mark in the first period.

Soon after, as it happened in the last game vs. Los Angeles, the Sharks could not keep up the lead, and Chicago opened the away scoresheet as Ryan Donato found a way to score with a deflected puck and tied it up for the visitors.

Then, the former Toronto Maple Leaf Tyler Bertuzzi put the second for the Blackhawks at 09:41 in the first period.

The Hawks will not see another number up in the scoresheet for the rest of the night.

In the second period, Alex Wennberg tied it for the Sharks just a couple of minutes into the night’s remaining 40 minutes of hockey.

During the second period, there was a noticeable change in the offense, showing more attack and more logic in trying to score goals. The game could have ended 4-2, but during a Sharks powerplay, the puck hit the post and did not completely enter the crease.

After these actions, Will Smith was not satisfied with one goal, and scored the second, giving the Sharks their third win in a row. “It feels really good,” Smith said. “I mean, I’ve been waiting for it, so it is good to see it go in.”

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky said that Smith needs to do some things better without the puck but all in the same the two goals scored by Smith is much appreciated, “We’ve watched him his whole life. He can do that. We saw him have growth through his games,” Warsofsky said. “There are some things he needs to do better tonight without the puck, but for him to get rewarded with the two goals, big goals, highlight-reel goals, really the way they’ve scored, it’s nice to see because he’s worked hard to this point.”

It is worth highlighting the brilliant performance of the goaltender, Mackenzie Blackwood, who, with 29 saves, proved to be a strong wall for the Sharks facing a visiting team that had many clear chances.

Now, the Sharks are on a mission to make it four in a row this Saturday at SAP Center against the Vancouver Canucks a 7:00pm PT face off.