Sharks Win 4-3 Over Blues, Celebrini, Kovalenko, 3 Points Each

San Jose Sharks Tyler Toffoli (right) is congratulated by teammates Jake Walman (96) and Macklin Celebrini (71) after scoring a first period goal against the St Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center in St Louis on Thu Dec 12, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Thursday. Macklin Celebrini scored twice and Tyler Toffoli and Jake Wallman also scored. Recent addition Nikolai Kovalenko had three assists and Alexandar Georgiev made 17 saves for the win. Jake Neighbours, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves in the loss.

In his debut with the team, Alexandar Georgiev was less busy than Sharks goaltenders have been this season. After the game, he described what he saw going on at the other end of the ice:

“Just a lot of pace. Our breakout was great, first passes were so quick in the first and as the game kept going as well. It was a treat to watch. Spent a lot of time in the offensive zone in the first and that always helps. I think everybody was buzzing there.”

Tyler Toffoli gave the Sharks a lead just 1:21 into the game, sweeping the puck over the line during a scramble in front of the net. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Nikolai Kovalenko.

Jake Neighbours tied the game at 10:26. He caught Ryan Suter’s pass at the center line and carried the puck all the way to the Sharks zone faceoff circle before a shooting. Suter and Colton Parayko got the assists.

The Sharks outshot the Blues 14-4 in the first period. Ty Dellandrea and Nathan Walker fought early in the period. The Sharks had one power play and one penalty at the end of the period.

Macklin Celebrini made it 2-1 Sharks at 5:43 of the second period. Celebrini carried the puck in two on one with Tyler Toffoli against Colton Parayko. Celebrini’s first shot hit Parayko burt came to Celebrini for the scoring shot. Assists went to Timothy Liljegren and Nokolai Kovalenko.

Celebrini scored again at 18:53. This goal came on a power play, with a wrist shot into the far side of the net. Assists went to Mikael Granlund and Jake Wallman.

The Sharks outshot the Blues 11-8 in the second period. The Sharks had one penalty to kill in the second period. Jan Rutta and Dylan Holloway had matching roughing penalties but Holloway drew blood, giving the Sharks the late power play.

Brayden Schenn trimmed the Sharks lead with a goal at 5:34 of the third period. With a crowd in front of the net, Schenn skated into a rebound and shot it in. Assists went to Zack Bolduc and Jake Neighbours.

Jake Wallman bumped the Sharks back to a two goal lead at 6:01. Kovalenko carried the puck into the zone with Wallman two on one against Matthew Kessel, then made the pass across so Wallman could shoot. Assists went to Kovalenko and Nico Sturm.

Jordan Kyrou scored the last goal of the game at 7:57, shooting into a crowd in front of the net. Assists went to Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas.

The Blues outshot the Sharks 8-6 in the third period. There were no penalties called.

The Sharks next play on Saturday back at home against the Utah Hockey Club at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 3-2 to Hurricanes, Kunin Scores Twice

San Jose Sharks Barclay Goodrow (32) can’t control the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes Sean Walker (26) and Shane Gostisbehere (4) at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh NC on Tue Dec 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Shayne Gostisbehere, Brent Burns and Jalen Chatfield scored for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov made 21 saves for the win. Luke Kunin scored twice for the Sharks and Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves in the loss.

This was the Sharks first game after the trade of Mackenzide Blackwood to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. Vitek Vancecek was in net, with his last appearance being in the first period in Tampa Bay two games ago. After Tuesday’s game, Luke Kunin said, of Vanecek: “He was great, he’s been great for us all year. Kept us in that one early. Yeah, our goaltending’s been phenomenal.”

William Eklund also credited Vanecek with keeping them in the game despite the team’s regrettable third period: “It’s just, obviously we’ve had good third periods this year. That’s been our thing I felt like. And today it wasn’t our thing. We shoot ourselves in the foot a little bit.”

Shayne Gostisbehere scored the first goal of the game at 4:26. As Gostisbehere skated in from the blue line, he caught a pass from Wiliam Carrier in the slot and snapped the puck past Vanecek. Assists went to Carrier and Jack Roslovic.

Luke Kunin tied the game at 18:51. Macklin Celebrini brought the puck in and then found Kunin with a pass to the slot. Kunin snapped it by Kochetkov. Assists went to Celebrini and Cody Ceci.

There were no penalties called in the first period. The Hurricanes outshot the Sharks 11-9.

Kunin scored again to give the Sharks a lead at 11:44 of the second period. William Eklund took the puck below the goal line and behind the net before sending it back up to Kunin. Kunin was just arriving by the net and tapped it past the goaltender.

The teams were very close in shots during the second period, 8-7 Hurricanes. The Sharks took three penalties and the Hurricanes took two.

Brent Burns tied the game back up at 4:11 of the third period. A turnover at the Hurricanes blue line sent the home team racing the other way. Sebastian Aho’s pass found Brent Burns approaching the Sharks net with Vanecek unable to get across. Assists wet to Aho and Martin Necas.

Jalen Chatfield scored the game winner at 17:21 of the third period. He intercepted a failed clearing attempt and sent it back to the net through traffic.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in St. Louis against the Blues at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 3-1 to Panthers, Blackwood Makes 50 Saves

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) and defenseman Dimitri Kulikov (7) defend the net against the San Jose Sharks right wing Tyler Toffoli (73) at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise FL on Sat Dec 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost to the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Saturday. Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals for Florida and Aleksander Barkov scored the third. Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose and Mackenzie Blackwood made 50 saves for the Sharks.

Of Blackwood’s performance, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “One of the best goalie performances I’ve ever seen really. He stood on his head for us to be in that game even, on the score sheet, what he did was super impressive. Not surprised though.”

After the game, Sharks forward Nico Sturm talked about what a team could learn from the Florida Panthers:

“Tempo-wise for sure, the fastest team we’ve played against. I mean it goes to show why they’re winning. It’s because they don’t do it just in playoffs. They do it in September, in December. Doesn’t matter if they play the best team in the League or the worst team in the League. They’ve got everybody rolling, top to bottom.”

The Sharks seemed tentative at times in the game. Warsofsky said “I don’t think we respected them too much. They have our respect, I think they have the whole League’s respect. I think at times we play in fear and we lose our swagger. And that’s where we’re at right now.”

Matthew Tkachuk gave the Panthers a lead just 23 seconds into the game. Sam Bennett crashed the net and shot the puck but Mackenzie Blackwood stopped that. The puck went up in the air and Tkachuk batted it into the net.

That was it for scoring in the first period. Florida took the only penalty in the first but still outshot San Jose 14-6.

Tkachuk made it 2-0 midway through the second. Carrying the puck in, he scored with a backhand as he skated to the right of the net. Tomas Nosek got an assist.

Aleksander Barkov made it 3-0 with a power play goal at 13:17. Carter Verhaeghe centered the puck and Sam Reinhart, in front of the blue paint, tapped it over to Barkov on the other side of the net. Barkov took the shot from just above the goal line.

The penalty count went up in the second period, with the Sharks taking three and the Panthers taking two. Florida outshot San Jose 20-9 in the second.

Tyler Toffoli got the Sharks on the board at 18:35 of the third period with a power play goal. Toffoli tipped in a shot by Mikael Granlund. Jake Walman got an assist as well.

The Panthers outshot the Sharks again in the third period, 20-13. They also took six penalties to the Sharks’ three.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Raleigh against the Hurricanes at 4:00 PM PT.

Lightning Scorch Sharks 8-1, Score Five in First period

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg (78) knocks the puck away from San Jose Sharks Ty Dellandrea (53) in first period action at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thu Dec 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated 8-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Cam Atkinson, Conor Geekie, Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix, and Nick Paul scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the win. Alexander Wennberg scored for San Jose. Vitek Vanecek made 7 saves in the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves in the second and third periods.

The Sharks gave up a stunning five goals in the first period. The Lightning outshot the Sharks in the period, but not by an enormous margin (12-9). “Not a great start. I don’t know, we didn’t play to our identity tonight at all. We kind of took our foot off the gas on a lot of little things,” said Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro. Of the team’s defensive woes, Ferraro said “I feel like most of it was the chances we gave up were sort of grade A, some shots from the point. So it has a lot to do with our box-outs and then when we recover the puck to be able to get the puck out. “

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky described the game as a reality check: “When you don’t skate, and you don’t compete against really good hockey teams or any team in the National Hockey League, this is what’s going to happen.”

Cam Atkinson tipped in a shot from Conor Geekie 1:26 into the game. Geekie took a pass from Atkinson at the Sharks blue line, then carried the puck in and scored on the blocker side at 7:29. Victor Hedman also got an assist on that goal. That second goal triggered a flurry of three goals in less than 90 seconds.

Brandon Hagel scored at 8:32. Shortly after an offensive zone faceoff, Hagel caught a pass from Jake Guentzel on the blue line. He skated in front of the goal and then backhanded the puck in. Ryan McDonagh got a secondary assist.

Brandon Hagel scored again just 23 seconds later. This time he carried the puck in from the blue line, skated across in front of the goal to the other side before backhanding the puck in. Erik Cernak got an assist.

Jake Guentzel made it 5-0 with a power play goal at 17:45 of the first period. Guentzel tipped in a shot from Victor Hedman with Brayden Point picking up an assist as well.

The Sharks changed goaltenders after the first period, putting Blackwood in net.

Anthony Cirelli made it 6-0 at 4:16 of the second period. He tipped a shot from Ryan McDonagh and Brayden Point picked up another assist.

Nick Perbix made it 7-0 at 18:32. Brayden Point pass the puck up out of the faceoff circle to Perbix high in the slot. Perbix scored with a wrist shot. Point and Emil Lilleberg got the assists.

Alexander Wennberg scored the only Sharks goal 14 seconds into the third period. Fabian Zetterlund carried the puck into the zone, then found Wennberg with a pass in the faceoff circle. Wennberg carried it across the slot and scored with a wrist shot. Assists went to Zetterlund and Jan Rutta.

Nick Paul made it 8-1 at 6:01 of the third. Paul caught a cross-ice pass from Brayden Point, then skated in to score with a backhand shot. Point and J..J. Moser got the assists.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Sunrise against the Panthers at 3:00 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Capitals 2-1 in OT, Win Streak at Three

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) takes a shot on goal in front of the Washington Capitals center Lars Eller (20) in the second period at the Capital Center in DC on Tue Dec 3, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday. The win capped the Sharks’ second three-game win streak of the season,. It qualifies as an upset since the Capitals are currently ranked third in the League and first in the Eastern Conference.

Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund scored for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves for the win. Nic Dowd scored for the Capitals and Logan Thompson made 29 saves in the loss.

The Sharks took the lead at the end of the first period. With just a minute left, Tyler Toffoli intercepted a pass I the neutral zone, carried the puck the other way and scored from just over the blue line.

The Capitals outshot the Sharks 16-8 I the first period. The Sharks took two penalties in the first half of the period, and the Capitals took one in the second half of the period.

Nic Dowd tied the game at 13:02 of the second period. Martin Fehervary sent the puck across the ice to Dowd in front of the net. Dowd shot as he dropped to one knee and beat Blackwood on the stick side. Assists went to Fehervary and Ivan Miroshnechenko.

The Sharks took the only penalty in the second period. The Capitals again outshot the Sharks, but by a much smaller margin, 9-7.

The Sharks pressed during the third period, outshooting the Capitals 13-4. They balanced the shot count but could not score, even with two power plays.

One of those power plays was a double minor at the end of the period, carrying 1:43 into overtime. That was Tom Wilson, high-sticking Macklin Celebrini. It was during that overtime power play that the Sharks scored.

39 seconds into overtime, Mikael Granlund’s pass found William Eklund in the faceoff circle. Eklund used a slap shot to put the game away. An assist also went to Macklin Celebrini.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 4:00 PM PT in Tampa Bay against the Lightning.

Sharks Win 4-2 Over Kraken, Back-to-Back Wins for San Jose

Seattle Kraken left wing Brandon Tanev (13) watches the puck it’s deflected off San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferrero (38) and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) in the third period at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Sat Nov 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Saturday. It was the second win against the Kraken in two days. Mario Ferraro, Luke Kunin, Cody Ceci and Will Smith scored for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves for the win. Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann scored for the Kraken. Joey Daccord made 19 saves in the loss.

After the 8-5 game just a day earlier, it would have been easy to expect a low-scoring game Saturday. That is not exactly what came to pass. The Sharks defense was somewhat more effective in this game than the last. After the game, Blackwood said: “They’re great. They really care. They commit to taking away the seams, they block shots when they can and they clear the rebounds.”

The Sharks finished scoring about half way through the game. Nonetheless, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“What I like about our group tonight is we did that. We had a 4-1 lead opening night and we gave it up. And tonight we came into the third period and I thought it was one of our better periods of the night. So we learned how to play the right way.”

Mario Ferraro gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead late in the first period. Mikael Granlund carried it over the blue line and then gave it away to Seattle. The Seattle player gave it back to the Sharks as Timothy Liljegren intercepted a pass. Liljegren sent it right back to Granlund, who found the Trailing Ferraro with a pass. Ferraro took some time before seeing his chance for a shot.

At the end of the first, the Kraken were outshooting the Sharks 13-9. The Sharks took two penalties and had one power play.

The Sharks scored early and often in the second. At 1:51, Luke Kunin followed Ty Dellandrea into the zone. Dellandrea made a drop pass as they approached the net and then continued on, acting as a screen for Kunin to shoot through. Assists went to Dellandrea and Jake Walman.

Cody Ceci made it 3-0 at 8:59, scoring his first road goal in more than three years and 127 road games. Maccklin Celebrini sent the puck to the net and it ended up going behind the goal and bouncing off the boards on the other side of the net. Ceci was on his way and met the puck in a perfect spot to shoot it in. Assists went to Celebrini and Walman.

Will Smith scored the Sharks’ fourth goal less than a minute later. Mikael Granlund carried the puck from the Sharks’ blue line almost to the Kraken net, skating two-on-one with Smith. Granlund made the pass and Smith shot it in. Assists went to Granlund and Klim Kostin.

The Kraken got on the board at 10:17. Matty Beniers shot the puck into the end boards from the blue line. The puck came back fast and Jaden Schwartz caught the pass and put it on net. It seemed like Blackwood did not expect that puck to come off the boards quite so fast. Assists went to Beniers and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

The Kraken again outshot the Sharks in the second period, 17-10. There were no penalties in the second.

Jared McCann scored the second Kraken goal at 6:27 of the third period. McCann Carried the puck into the zone and then shot it through traffic. Assists went to Ryker Evans and Brandon Montour.

With the net empty and a sixth skater on the ice, the Kraken put the puck in the net at 19:52. Beniers caught a rebound out of traffic in front of the net and shot it back in. The goal was called back, however, for goaltender interference. Yanni Gourde made contact with Blackwood’s head shortly before the goal was scored. The review was initiated by the Situation Room.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. against the Capitals at 4:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Kostin goes all out with a fight, a goal, and an assist in Sharks beating of Kraken 8-5

San Jose Sharks center Klim Kostin is fired up after scoring a first period goal against the Seattle Kraken at SAP Center on Fri Nov 29, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 San Jose Sharks Klim Kostin picked up a Gordie Howe hat trick against the Seattle Kraken on Friday afternoon at SAP Center in San Jose. Kostin brawled with the Seattle Kraken’s Will Borgen during the mid third period.

#2 The Sharks who won 8-5 lit up the lamp with Jake Walman scored twice with Macklin Celebrini, Mikael Granlund, Will Smith, and Timothy Liljegren scored a goal and an assist.

#3 The Sharks Ethan Cardwell scored the go ahead goal in the third period it was Cardwell’s first career goal and gave San Jose a two goal 7-5 win.

#4 Seattle surrendered the most goals in a game for this season with eight. It was pretty much over when San Jose scored with four goals that pretty much put the game out of reach for the Kraken.

#5 Celebrini is tied in the rookie lead for goals with eight and Will Smith has six points in his last three games. After struggling the younger players might have found their stride.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Ethan Cardwell scores his 1st career goal as Sharks beat Kraken 8-5

Ethan Cardwell (56) jumps onto the glass after he scores his first NHL goal (San Jose Sharks X photo)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE–After a back to back goal scoring throughout the game, San Jose came out with the win as Ethan Cardwell scores his first career NHL goal in his fourth game with the Sharks defeating the Seattle Kraken 8-5 at SAP Center.

The Sharks hosted the Seattle Kraken for a Black-Friday matchup Friday afternoon. This is the first matchup between the two teams this season, the last time these teams faced off was on April 11th in Seattle where the Sharks won 3-1. Luke Kunin, Kyle Burroughs, and Fabian Zetterlund all scored that game.

San Jose struck first at 2:07 on a slapshot by Timothy Liljegren assisted by Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg. After a turnover by San Jose, Seattle tied the game at 1 at 3:03. Oliver Bjorkstand registered his 6th goal of the season assisted by Eeli Tolvanen.

At 14:21, Seattle took a two minute penalty for interference. San Jose’s powerplay is 18.5%, ranked 19th in the league and Seattle’s penalty kill is 78.0%, ranked 18th in the league. With eight seconds left on the powerplay, Klim Kostin netted his first of the season assisted by William Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund. “Just trying to play hockey and enjoy hockey.” said Klim Kostin.

33 seconds after San Jose took the lead, Seattle tied it again at 2-2 with Chandler Stephenson scoring his second of the season assisted by Jaden Schwartz. At 18:48, Cody Ceci went to the box for a slashing call against Jaden Schwartz. After almost killing the whole penalty, Shane Wright scored his third goal of the season assisted by Oliver Bjorkstand and Chandler Stephenson.

At 2:45 of the second, Will Smith tied the game at three assisted by Mikael Granlund. Jake Walman took a double minor for high-sticking Tye Kartye which led to Shane Wright’s second powerplay goal of the night scored at 7:20 assisted by Chandler Stephenson and Ryker Evans.

Staying and attacking in the zone led to three more goals scored by Jake Walman, Mikael Granlund, and Macklin Celebrini all in the second. Granlund accounted for a goal and an assist on the night “Overall I think there was a good performance.” With one minute left of the second, Yanni Gourde scored his third goal of the season assisted by Ryker Evans and Brandon Tanev to cut San Jose’s lead down to one going into the 3rd.

At 7:37 of the third, Cardwell scored his first career NHL goal assisted by Nico Sturm and Henry Thrun. “The puck is going back home. I know they’re watching, I’m getting texts right now.” With 5 minutes left in the game, Jake Walman put the cherry on top scoring on an empty net to secure the 8-5 win.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

  1. Mikael Granlund

2. Jake Walman

3. Klim Kostin

San Jose will be back in action Saturday night in Seattle to take on the Kraken for back to back games. “Some things we have to be better at and look at tomorrow, I’m sure there’s some goals Grubauer wants back, we got fortunate on that side of it.” says Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky.

San Jose Sharks fall to Ottawa Senators in midweek matchup 4-3

Henry Thrun (3), Mario Ferraro (38), Nico Sturm (7), and Will Smith (2) celebrate with Klim Kostin (10) after scoring a goal. (Via San Jose Sharks/X)

Despite dominating the whole game, the San Jose Sharks fell to the Ottawa Senators 4- 3.

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks hosted the Ottawa Senators for a midweek matchup Wednesday night. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. The last time these two teams faced off was on March 9th where the Sharks won 2-1 on two Thomas Bordeleau goals.

San Jose went onto the powerplay early when Ridly Greig took a 2 minute penalty for interference but weren’t able to take advantage. Shortly after coming off of the penalty kill, Ottawa opened up the scoring on an Adam Gaudette goal at 4:35 of the 1st. Ottawa had their first opportunity on the powerplay as Klim Kostin took a 2 minute penalty for high-sticking. 42 seconds into the powerplay, Josh Norris scored his 9th of the season assisted by Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle.

Although outshooting Ottawa 24-10, Ottawa kept their lead throughout the 2nd. At 9:19 into the 2nd, Mario Ferraro cut down Ottawa’s lead to 1 assisted by Will Smith and Klim Kostin. This was Ferraro’s first goal of the season.

Previous to this, he hadn’t scored since April 13th against the Minnesota Wild. Ottawa extended their lead to 3-1 at 15:22 on a Tyler Kleven goal; his first of the season assisted by Claude Giroux. Late into the 2nd period with 23.6 seconds left, Mario Ferraro went to the box for holding which meant Ottawa would start the 3rd period on a 1:45 powerplay.

San Jose cut down Ottawa’s lead again on a goal by Macklin Celebrini assisted by William Eklund and Jake Walman at 4:48. San Jose stayed alive at 12:32 with a Will Smith PPG assisted by Fabian Zetterlund and Timothy Liljegren. With 5 minutes left in the 3rd, Adam Gaudette netted his 2nd of the night assisted by Tom Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk to seal Ottawa’s 4-3 win.

Three stars of the game:

1. Tim Stutzle

2. Will Smith

3. Adam Gaudette

San Jose will be back in action on Friday hosting the Seattle Kraken at 12:30pm.

Sharks Blow Out Kings 7-2, Celebrini With 2 Goals

Macklin Celebrini center (71) who scored two goals for the San Jose Sharks celebrates his third period against the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Nov 25, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharls defeated the Los Angeles Kings 7-2 on Monday. Nico Sturm, Macklin Celebrini, Fabian Zetterlund, Alexander Wennberg and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves for the win. Brandt Clarke and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. David Rittich made 14 saves in the loss.

The game generated some very good numbers for San Jose. Macklin Celebrini became just the third 18 year old Sharks player to have a multi-point game. The first was Jeff Friesen, the second was Patrick Marlowe. Additionally, the last time the Sharks scored five goals in a period at home was in 2015.

After the game, Mario Ferraro talked about how the game felt early: “They had a good start to the game. They were hemming us in quite a bit at the beginning. And then I think [Sturm] finishing that off just helped calm us down, calm the game down a bit.” It took the team a while to turn that calm into scoring but they got there.

The above-mentioned goal came at 1:47 of the first period. Nico Sturm scored with a wrist shot off of a breakaway and a pass from Mario Ferraro. Askarov also got an assist.

That was it for scoring in the first period. The teams finished even in shots on goal at six. The Sharks had one power play and another a few seconds before the end of the period.

The Sharks did not score on that power play to start the second. Soon after it elapsed, the Kings tied the game. Brandt Clarke took a shot from inside the right faceoff circle, after the Kings entered the zone with a lot of puck movement. Assists went to Adrian Kempe and Anze Koptar.

Anze Kopitar gave the Kings a lead at 8:58 with a backhand shot, cleaning up a stray puck after Adrian Kempe’s shot did not go in. An assist also went to Warren Foegele.

Fabian Zetterlund tied the game back up at 13:59. His attempt to center the puck from below the goal line went off of a Kings defender and into the net. Assists went to William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini.

In the second period, the Sharks started on the power play but took two penalties after that and were outshot by Los Angeles 12-5.

1:03 into the third period, Macklin Celebrini carried the puck up the ice and into the zone and then scored with a shot into the top corner. Assists went to Henry Thrun and Jan Rutta.

A little more than a minute later, Timothy Liljegren made it 4-2. His shot came from just above the faceoff circle. An assist went to Will Smith.

Los Angeles challenged that goal for goaltender interference. Mario Ferraro did skate through the crease but he made no contact and was out of the crease before the shot happened. The goal stood up, putting the Kings on the penalty kill. Ealry in that power play, Warren Foegele was called for tripping Celebrini, giving the Sharks more than a minute of five-on-three power play time.

Celebrini scored a power play goal with a slap shot off of a William Eklund pass. Will Smith got the secondary assist.

Alexander Wennberg made it 6-2 with a power play goal at 10:46. Wennberg deflected a shot from Jake Walman on the blue line. Wennberg won the face off to get the puck to Walman as well.

Luke Kunin made it 7-2 at 18:39. He chased down a stray pass in the neutral zone and then carried it through traffic to the net for the shot.

The Sharks next play on Wednesday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the visiting Ottawa Senators.