Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks. Ryan Carpenter celebrates his goal against the Rangers (taken on January 23rd 2023).
By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)
SAN JOSE- The Sharks looked to extend their winning streak against the Rangers on Tuesday night.
In goal for the Sharks was Mackenzie Blackwood who came into this one with a 6-17-3 record with a 3.69 GAA and .894 SV%. While for the Rangers Igor Shesterkin was in between the pipes who heading into this one had a 19-11-0 record with a 2.81 GAA and .902 SV%.
After last nights collision with the boards Mario Ferraro was kept out of the lineup tonight with Kevin Labanc serving as the other scratch.
That meant Calen Addison was back in the lineup after an extended period out of it.
The beginnings of this game certainly had the feel of two teams who don’t play each other often as the two teams felt each other out.
After the Rangers had figured things out they got to work as Alexis Lafreniere threw the puck to the front of the net that was eventually stuffed home by Adam Fox. The goal was his eighth of the season and brought much joy to the mostly Rangers audience in attendance.
It was a position the Sharks are all to familiar with as this season after giving up the first goal the Sharks are 2-25-1.
San Jose would push late in the first as Kyle Burroughs missed a wide open net on a feed from Tomas Hertl. As consolation the Sharks did get a power play as Vincent Trocheck took a holding penalty. They weren’t able to convert on it in the first but did carry over 37 seconds into the second.
To start out the middle frame the Rangers killed off the remainder of Trochek’s penalty. Feeding off that momentum Artemi Panarin went for a skate around the Sharks o-zone and then sniped one over Blackwood’s shoulder getting his 29th of the season and making it 2-0.
The teams then exchanged penalties back-and-forth for most of the rest of the frame with neither team able to score.
Instead it would take until the third period before we got the next goal which would be an odd one. As the goal happened when defenseman Ryan Lindgren played the puck behind his own net. Instead of passing it to his defense partner he dropped it right to Nico Sturm who banked it off of Shesterkin and into the back of the net.
The goal seemed to give the Sharks some much needed life and the building was abuzz with noise. Not long after the goal Jan Rutta slapped the puck towards the net from the point which found the stick of Ryan Carpenter who tipped home the tying goal sending the crowd into a frenzy.
The game was back to tied and the Sharks were able to force overtime for the second game in a row.
In overtime the Rangers got a coupe of quick chances but the Sharks then got a counter attack going.
With Jan Rutta, Tomas Hertl, and Alexander Barabonov on the ice they circled the offensive zone looking to end it. Then on a defensive breakdown Barabonov skated right into the slot and passed it to Rutta backdoor. Instead of shooting it though he tapped it over to Hertl who shelved it over Shesterkin giving the Sharks the overtime victory.
The win was the Sharks third in a row and most notably with captain Logan Couture back in the lineup San Jose is now undefeated. San Jose’s record now improves to 13-31-4 while the Rangers end up at 29-15-3.
Special teams were a mixed bag for the Sharks as they killed all four penalties taken but also went 0/3 on the power play as well.
The three stars of the game were: 1st: Tomas Hertl 2nd: Ryan Carpenter 3rd: Henry Thrun
Thankfully for the Sharks they won’t have to play again until Saturday when they take on the Sabres at home at 1 p.m. were they’ll look too extend their win streak to four.
