Category: NHL

Utah HC Posts Third Consecutive Home Win With 2-1 Victory Over Chicago

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Utah Hockey Club left wing Lawson Crouse (67) takes the puck up ice against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Feb 25, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse each found the back of the net, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 21 of 22 shots, as Utah nails down third consecutive home win.

Coming off of a 2-1 home victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, Utah HC returned to the ice on Tuesday to square off against the Chicago Blackhawks, whom they defeated 5-2 on opening night in October.

Prior to the puck drop, local recording artist Yahosh Bonner, fresh off of starring in the lead role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the musical “Ragtime!,” the inaugural production at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater in Pleasant Grove, set the tone for the game with his powerful performance of the national anthem.

At 12:47 of the first period, Utah forward Kevin Stenlund went to the penalty box for holding against Connor Bedard to give Chicago its first power play of the evening. Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones converted the man advantage on a snap shot for his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen, as Chicago took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom was stingy in net for the first two periods, but with 44 seconds remaining in the second, Utah captain Clayton Keller found the back of the net to tie things up with his 21st goal of the season, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Logan Cooley.

Kesselring’s assist was his 17th of the season establishing his new single-season high. Last season he registered 16 assists in 65 games for the Phoenix Coyotes. Cooley’s assist gave him at least one point in each of Utah’s last 8 home games.

Utah forward Lawson Crouse gave his squad the lead at 12:12 of the third period with a backhand shot, his 9th goal of the season, assisted by Josh Doan and Olli Määttä. The goal turned out to be the game-winner, Crouse’s second of the season, matching his 2023-2024 total. Crouse also scored against the Blackhawks on opening night.

Chicago put heavy pressure on Utah in the closing minutes of the game with their goaltender pulled, but Karel Vejmelka stood tall to protect the victory. Vejmelka has now won 3 games in a row, allowing just 4 goals during that span for a 1.40 GAA and .942 save percentage.

In the locker room, Lawson Crouse talked about how his team has been handling pressure recently. “As our identity progresses forward, we keep taking steps in the right direction. It’s a lot of fun when we play this way. Everyone is on board.

Everyone that’s contributing and creating team success pushes everyone to be the best they can possibly be.” Describing his game-winning goal, Lawson added, “We attacked as a unit, and Doaner made a great play to find me in the middle. There was a lot of open ice, and I think the key player on that play was McBain just being at the net, and that allowed me to have that extra second to get the shot off.”

Captain Clayton Keller, Tuesday night’s other scorer, talked about his squad’s perseverance. “It’s huge. We didn’t have our best stuff to start the game, but we stuck with it. They played hard. They made us work for everything. It’s good to get the win there.

It was a tight game all the way through, so a huge win for us.” Talking about Crouse’s goal, Keller said, “It’s huge. He’s such a great teammate. He’s scoring, not scoring, and has been through the ups and downs. He’s a guy that you love being around at the rink.

Just a great teammate. Anytime another guy has success, it’s awesome.” When asked about holding onto the lead for the final eight minutes, Keller added, “Just keep playing our game. Keep going. I think we’ve taken strides in learning from previous mistakes when we’ve had the lead. Playing a little bit more loose. That’s part of the way that we kind of stuck with it. We had a lot of possession and chances in the third there.”

Head coach André Tourigny was happy with his team’s consecutive home win and offered particular praise for the play of Crouse. “He’s playing with more conviction. He has less doubt in his head, he plays a little bit more free-minded. He shoots quickly and you can see he doesn’t overthink the game. So, I like the way he played, the pace he played with, and I think that line was excellent again tonight. Obviously, they got the big goal as well, but the pace and the key moments were really good.” With regard to the whole team, he said, “They want it. There’s a good feel on the bench right now. There’s a feel of competitiveness, there’s a feel of care, and there’s a feel of passion. I like the way it feels and the guys are all in on winning. They don’t give a damn about who, but us.”

Speaking about Vejmelka, who also won Sunday’s 2-1 contest against the Canucks, Bear noted, “He stopped the puck and that’s a good quality for a goalie. He did a really good job in both games and found a way to make the last stop. Even during 6-on-5, they had two good looks, and [Vejmelka] came up big. I like the way he plays…He was really solid [against Vancouver] and looking at this body of work since he got hurt, I think he really stepped up and has allowed us to be in the hunt.”

Summarizing the game, he concluded, “It was huge. I think we’re at the point as a team where we’re in the zone and it’s like next man up. We need to find a way to win games and I think tonight, we did a lot of good stuff, offensively and defensively. The puck was not going in and we had a little bit of a tough time to make the next play offensively in terms of execution, but we stayed with it, and I think the guys were focused. Even if the execution was not at our best, we stayed with it, and we played with confidence. We had confidence in our play without the puck and confidence if we kept pegging away and putting the puck behind and putting pucks at the net. Something will go in and it did.”

Utah will go for its fourth consecutive home win on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. They have won five of their past seven games and trail the Calgary Flames by three points in the Western Conference Wild Card chase.

Sharks Fall 2-1 in OT to Jets, Winnipeg Win Streak at 10; San Jose loss steak reaches six

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Winnipeg Jets Mark Scheifele (55) scored the game winning goal in overtime on San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Mon Feb 24, 2025 (Canadian press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 2-1 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets, despite holding a lead for more than 40 minutes. The win was the tenth in a row for the Jets. For the Sharks, it was the sixth loss in a row. Josh Morrissey and Mark Sheifele scored for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves for the win. William Eklund scored for the Sharks and Vitek Vanacek made 33 saves in the loss.

Vitek Vanacek was a big part of the reason that the Sharks hung in there for as long as they did. After the game, William Eklund said, of the goaltender: “Yeah, he was outstanding tonight.” Of his teammates, Vanacek said that “I think the guys played really well.” The Sharks came away from the loss disappointed but not ashamed of their effort.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said that the team:

“Worked extremely hard, each and every period, with things we talked about this morning. To fall short is a kick in the gut. Disappointed we don’t get the result but I’m really extremely proud of our group. Back to back, get in late last night, to have that type of effort against arguably the best team in the League.”

William Eklund started the scoring with a power play goal at 15:07 of the first period. Macklin Celebrini made a cross-ice pass to Eklund for a slap shot from the face-off dot. Celebrini and Will Smith got the assists.

Winnipeg outshot San Jose 10-6 in the first period. The teams took matching roughing minors near the middle of the period. The Sharks had the only power play of the period. The Jets outshot the Sharks 10-8 in the second period and 13-3 in the third. The Sharks had two power plays in the second period and killed one penalty. The Sharks had the only penalty in the third period and killed that.

Eklund’s goal gave the Sharks a lead that lasted until the final minute of the third period, when Josh Morrissey tied the game with the Jets’ net empty. Morrissey caught a bounce off of the side board and put the puck in the net on the short side from the top of the faceoff circle.

1:33 into overtime, the Jets extended their win streak when Mark Sheifele picked up a rebound right in front of Vanacek and poked it over the line. Assists went to Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Montreal against the Canadiens at 4:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 3-2 to Flames, Losing Streak at five

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San Jose Sharks Henry Thrun (3) tries to stop the Calgary Flames Jonathan Huberdeau (left) from attacking Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) and the net in the second period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Sun Feb 23, 2025 (News photo by Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 to the Calgary Flames Sunday. Nazem Kadri, Kevin Rooney and Joel Hanley scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 27 saves for the win. Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves in the loss.

After the game, Toffoli said: “It just sucks. I thought we had a pretty good game, better than the one we played going into the break.” Asked if this five-game losing streak is frustrating, he said “If anyone says they’re having a good time losing games, I don’t want them on my team, to be honest.”

The Sharks scored first, at 3:41 of the first period. Toffoli centered the puck from below the goal line, just as Celebrini closed on the crease. Celebrini scored his 18th of the season with a wrist shot. Assists went to Toffoli and Jake Walman.

The Flames tied it on a power play at 7:27. Nazem Kadri scored with a wrist shot from just above the left face-off circle. Assists went to Morgan Frost and MacKenzie Weegar.

Calgary outshot the Sharks 14-8 in the first period. The Sharks took two penalties and the Flames took on in the first.

Kevin Rooney gave Calgary the 2-1 lead at 3:35 of the second period. Rooney caught a rebound from a shot by Ryan Lomberg. Assists went to Lomberg and Martin Pospisil.

The teams were tied with 13 shots apiece in the second period. They also had one penalty apiece.

Toffoli tied it back up at 1:54 of the third period. Wolf stopped Toffoli’s first shot but left a rebound. Toffoli caught that and scored his 21st of the season. Assists went to William Eklund and Shakir Mukhamadullin.

Joel Hanley gave Calgary the 3-2 lead at 13:28 of the third. Hanley shot the puck to the net from the blue line, then skated in. Jonathan Huberdeau caught the puck just outside the blue paint and passed it back up to Hanley for the shot. Assists went to Huberdeau and Kadri.

The officials were very busy in the third period. The Sharks were given two minor penalties, one matched penalty and a double minor. Calgary had one minor penalty and the matched penalty. The teams were very close again in shots, 9-8 Calgary.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Winnipeg against the Jets at 4:30 PM PT.

Cooley and Guenther Lead Utah HC to 2-1 Victory Over Vancouver

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Vancouver Canucks left winger Kiefer Sherwood (44) moves the puck against the Utah Hockey Club right winger Dylan Guenther (11) in the second period at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Feb 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther each found the back of the net, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 15 of 16 shots, as Utah wins first game back at Delta Center following the 4 Nations Face-Off.

It had been 17 days since Utah Hockey Club last played on home ice in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers. Since then they have split four games on the road, going 2-1 prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off and then losing Saturday’s matchup against the Kings in Los Angeles wherein Barrett Hayton recorded the first hat trick in Utah HC history, the first of Hayton’s career.

With two power play goals in the game, Utah had converted four straight times with the man advantage. Defenseman Sean Durzi returned in that game from a 52-game absence and assisted on one of Hayton’s goals. Upon returning to Salt Lake City, Durzi suited up for his first game at Delta Center since opening night on October 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Out of the lineup on Sunday night was defenseman Juuso Välimäki who was waived earlier in the day due to the returns of John Marino and Sean Durzi from long-term injuries. If Välimäki clears waivers, he will likely be assigned to Utah’s AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Though named to Finland’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, he was a healthy scratch for all three of their games in the tournament.

Following a scoreless first period, Vancouver went on the power play early in the second when Logan Cooley went to the sin bin for hooking against Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk cashed it in at 1:43 of the frame for his 21st of the season, assisted by Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter. Cooley redeemed himself just two minutes later with his 16th of the season, tipping in a shot from John Marino with an additional assist to Clayton Keller.

At 13:01 of the third period, Vancouver’s Derek Forbort went to the penalty box for holding against Michael Corcone. On the ensuing power play, Dylan Guenther tipped in a perfect pass from Nick Schmaltz for his 21st goal of the season, with Keller picking up his 43rd assist.

In net, Karel Vejmelka turned away 15 of 16 Canuck shots to earn his 13th victory of the season.

After the game, Dylan Guenther addressed the importance of beginning the four-game homestand with a win. “Yeah, it’s huge. I mean, everyone was kind of on a back to back, so we’re all a little tired, but just finding ways to win games I think builds our confidence in those tight ones and just use that moving forward.” Speaking of the team’s power play, Guenther continued, “I thought … we did a pretty good job on all three in the first, just couldn’t score. And then, I mean, just a really nice play by Schmaltzy. I didn’t even really see it, to be honest, but I was just kind of posted up there and he gave me a nice pass.”

Utah has struggled to maintain leads in the third period, and head coach André Tourigny talked about the final five minutes of tonight’s game. “I think we did a good job. I think there’s always things you can do a little bit better. But I like our mindset, I like our composure, our compete level, our urgency. So I like a lot of stuff. I’m happy.” Addressing the stingy defense, Tourigny said, “It’s (the) effort of everybody. Normally, when you have that kind of a defensive performance, it’s because you (also) play really good offensively. Possess the puck, you put it on their heels. I cannot say that about the way we played offensively today. I think we didn’t have our execution. We didn’t generate as much speed as we do lately. But I like the point of how we played defensively. We blocked shots, we were stingy in our neutral zone, stingy in our (defensive) zone. So there’s a lot of positive (in) the way we played without the puck today.”

Utah has three more games on this homestand beginning with the return of the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, Utah’s inaugural season opening night opponent whom they defeated 5-2 in October.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks try to rebound after rough first half against Flames Sunday

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) makes a save against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Jan 27, 2025. Askarov is out for three weeks due to a lower body injury (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Maybe the Four Nation Face Off came at a right time for the San Jose Sharks the Sharks were in the middle of a four game funk that saw them in their last game get absolutely hammered in San Jose on Sat Feb 8 to the Dallas Stars 8-3.

#2 One of the things the Sharks have had problems with is allowing their opponents to get the early lead and the game against the Stars was not an exception allowing three goals in the first period.

#3 Their third periods have been troublesome too in that same game against the Stars the Sharks allowed three goals against and were whipped by the Stars in a five goal advantage.

#4 Goaltending is a concern for San Jose as top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov is out three weeks with a lower body injury while playing for the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday. He faced 14 shots in the first period of the game but had to come out and did not return. How critical is Askarov’s loss going to be with two months left of the season?

#5 The Sharks return to action opening up a seven game road trip starting this Sunday in Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome against a Flames team that is fifth in the Pacific Division having lost five of their last ten games and lost three in a row. The Sharks need to snap their four game skid and will have a real test starting this seven game road trip.

Join Mary Lisa for the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Four Nations podcast with Len Shapiro: RIP Mike Lange he was my good friend; McDavid scores game winner Canada wins it in OT 3-2

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Pittsburgh Penguins long time broadcaster Mike Lange addresses the crowd before the unveiling of a statue depicting Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux outside the NHL hockey team’s arena March 7, 2012, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len what can you say about your good late friend Pittsburgh Penguins play by play announcer the great Mike Lange who you roomed with during your college days.

#2 Len, talk about those catch phrases that he used after a goal was scored he was well known for.

#3 Penguins star Syd Crosby said he was proud that Lange called almost all his goals of his career that’s saying a mouthful right there.

#4 Turning to the Four Nations Tournament Team USA and Team Canada battle at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night Team Canada wins it in overtime 3-2 on Conner McDavid’s goal at 8:18.

#5 No doubt about it there were some gritty hockey played in this tournament no one caved in and all teams played like everything was on the line. It was not like an East vs. West All Star game where they run up the score.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks fall 8-3 in Granlund and Ceci’s return

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San Jose Sharks vs Dallas Stars on Saturday February 8th 2024 at SAP Center. (via sanjosesharks/instagram)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- In Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci’s return to San Jose, the Sharks fell 5-2. Granlund registering two assists.

San Jose opened up the scoring at 1:25 when William Eklund scored his 11th of the season. Celebrini picked up a puck from Toffoli behind the net and no-look passed to Eklund. After good puck movement by Andrew Poturalski and Will Smith, Fabian Zetterlund scored his 11th of the season to extend the Sharks’s lead.

Dallas cut into their lead at 3:02 when their leading point scorer Matt Duchene scored his 21st goal of the season. Mikael Granlund registering the lone assist.

Dallas then tied the game at 2-2, just seven minutes later. Picking up a rebound shot by Matt Dumba, Jason Robertson scored his 20th goal of the season. Lian Bichsel registering the secondary assist. Dallas took their first lead of the game three minutes later at 13:24. Mason Marchment was left alone in the crease when he scored his 14th of the season. Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund registering the assists.

The 23rd rank powerplay got to work when Will Smith took a delay of game penalty. A little over 30 seconds into the powerplay, Matt Duchene scored his second of the night and his sixth PPG of the season. Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnston registering the assists.

Dallas extended their lead to 5-2 when Mavrik Bourque scored his eighth of the season on a drop pass by Jamie Benn. Benn and Evgenii Dadonov registering the assists.

Although being up 5-2, Dallas didn’t take their foot off the gas, scoring 3 times in the span of three minutes. Wyatt Johnston scored at 11:20, Back and Blackwell registering the assists. Thomas Harley scored a minute and 20 seconds later, Lindell and Hintz registering the assists.

The Sharks cut into the lead 33 seconds later, Walker Duehr scoring his 1st as a Shark. Carl Grundstom and Ty Dellandrea registering the assists.

Jamie Benn sealed the deal 37 seconds later scoring his 14th of the season, Bichsel registering the lone assist.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

  1. Matt Duchene, 2G, 1A
  2. Thomas Harley, 1G,1A
  3. Jamie Benn, 1G, 1A

The Sharks will be back in action after the Four Nations face-off on February 23rd against the Calgary Wranglers.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks take on Stars tonight in effort to end three game skid

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) puts a stop on the Vancouver Canucks left wing Drew O’Connor (left) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

San Jose podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Vancouver Canucks Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot 33 seconds into the overtime stanza as the Canucks got by the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Thursday night. O’Connor got to make the penalty shot after the Sharks Macklin Celebrini got called for a hooking penalty.

#2 The Canucks Dakota Joshua scored at 8:04 on a power play to get the Canucks on the scoreboard with the lead 1-0.

#3 The Sharks were behind 1-0 in the third period when Tyler Toffoli tied up the game at 1-1 with his 20th goal of the season at 18:32.

#4 Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko was looking for his second shutout in a row but will settle for the win and 33 saves. The Sharks Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 Vancouver shots.

#5 Dallas Stars are second in the central division this is a team that is on a roll with a 38-18-1 with 69 points only behind the mighty Winnipeg Jets. They’re in San Jose tonight how do you see the Sharks chances?

Join Mary Lisa for Sharks podcasts each Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Knights stay perfect in New Jersey with 3-1 win; Lightning open up some offense on Ottawa in 5-1 win; plus more NHL news

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Vegas Golden Knights Tomas Hertl (right) brings the puck up ice against the New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes (left) in the first period at the Prudential Center in Newark on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights had goals scored from three different players in their 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night. Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy, and Shea Theordore scored a goal each. Adin Hill will be representing Canada in goal during the 4 Nations Face off on Feb 12-20. Hill stopped 14 shots for the Knights. The Knights have not lost a game in New Jersey in their seven games there since coming into the NHL.

#2 Brayden Point scored a goal and had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-1 at Amalie Arena on Thursday night. The Bolts Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel scored a goal apiece. Nikita Kucherov had two assists and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots. It was Tampa Bay’s second win over three days against Ottawa.

#3 Alexander Ovechkin scored his 879th goal on a on timer just inside of the right face off circle at 19:07 in the first period and is now 16 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record of 894 goals. Ovechkin has a hot hand right now he has scored in four straight games with 26 goals on the season. The Washington Capitals get a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

#4 Dylan Guenther scored an overtime goal for the second straight game and the Utah Hockey Club edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Guenther scored at 4:27 getting a pass from goaltender Connor Ingram and got a breakaway scoring on his own rebound for the win.

#5 Filip Gustavsson saved 38 shots for the Minnesota Wild as they win in a one goal difference over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul on Thursday night 2-1. Gustavsson made quite a recovery in net after allowing six Ottawa Senators goals in his last start.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fell Short Again in OT Loss Against the Canucks

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Drew O’Connor shot on goal on Vitek Vanecek during overtime at SAP Center in San Jose on Feb 6 (Vancouver Canucks Archive.)

After a painful loss against the Habs, the Sharks have to find a way to get back on track… It did not come Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

By: Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE –– Thursday night action at the tank and once again the Sharks hosted a Canadian neighbor, the Vancouver Canucks the Sharks wound up losing by another one goal game this time 2-1. Last time at the Tank, the Sharks lost against the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-3 score, with the Habs scoring the goal that gave them the victory in the final minutes of the third, leaving no time for the Sharks to recover last Tuesday night.

The Canucks won their last game against the Avalanche going through a long stretch of winless games since Jan 18, when the Canucks played the Edmonton Oilers. The Sharks added another loss and have gone winless since Jan 14, when the Teal played Detroit.

During the first two periods of the game, the game remained scoreless. Worth mentioning that the first 40 minutes of the game were full of penalties

Both teams were very balanced and even throughout the match. It is worth noting that San Jose was more aggressive during the second period, showing heart and attitude.
Vancouver was under pressure, but Vitek Vanecek had a great performance after being absent from the team since Dec 14.

The action began to be seen in the third period with a goal at 14:40 with a goal by the visitors at 14:40 when Dakota Joshua, with a tip-in shot on a PowerPlay, took the lead 1-0 assisted by Pius Suter and Tyler Myers.

The game looked like it wasn’t going to end 1-0, and just as it looked, it ended up being that way, with Tyler Toffoli scoring with 1.28 left in regulation to give San Jose some life and a chance.

The chance for the long-awaited victory fell short, and this time, the star, Macklin Celebrini, was marked with a penalty for hooking against Drew O’Connor. O’Connor scored an unassisted scored his second goal for Vancouver, and the game winner to call it a night.

With this loss, San Jose is on the verge of going a full month with no victories. The Sharks will host a final game at home against Dallas, with the possible homecoming of former Sharks of Cody Ceci and Mikael Grandlund before the 4 Nations break.