Category: San Jose Sharks

Sharks Defeat Capitals 2-1, Bailey Assists GWG

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San Jose Sharks center Luke Kunin is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the go ahead goal in the third period against the Washington Capitals at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Nov 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 Monday at SAP Center. Fabian Zetterlund and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks and Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves for the win. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves in the loss.

Justin Bailey was signed to a two-way contract Monday. He has been playing for the Barracuda so far this season. Monday was his first game with the Sharks and his first NHL point of the season. He made a particular impact in board battles. The 6’4” Bailey seems like exactly the type of player the Sharks could use to fill out their thinned forward ranks.

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said: “He’s our biggest forward and he can skate. And as you can see, he’s got a little bit of touch too. That was a great pass he made to Kunin on the winning goal. And he plays an honest game.”

Fabian Zetterlund gave the Sharks the lead midway through the first period. After taking a shot from the top of the face-off circle, he pulled up near the net and jumped on the rebound. Assists went to Nikita Okhotiuk and Mikael Granlund.

Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov tied the game late in the second period. After a long spell in the offensive zone, Kuznetsov’s shot bounced off of Blackwood and then off of Okhotiuk and into the net. Assists went to Trevor van Riemsdyk and Martin Fehervary.

Luke Kunin gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at 12:48 of the third period. Justin Bailey won a battle along the boards before finding Kunin with a short pass. Assists went to Bailey and Ty Emberson. Bailey was signed to a two-way contract with the Sharks Monday.

The Capitals pulled their goaltender with just over a minute left but the Sharks held on. The final shot count was 34-23 Capitals. The second period saw the largest discrepancy, with Washington out-shooting San Jose 14-6. The Sharks power play went 1/3 and their penalty kill was perfect through three penalties. The teams were even in the faceoff circle.

Tomas Hertl was out Monday, having suffered a mid-body injury Sunday. The Sharks again had seven defensemen in the game and 11 forwards.

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

Sharks Defeat Canucks 4-3, Granlund Scores Highlight Goal

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San Jose Sharks center Mikael Granlund (64) is congratulated by defenseman Mike Ferraro (38) and left wing Fabian Zetterlund (20) and defenseman Calen Addison (33) after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Nov 25, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 at SAP Center on Saturday. Ty Emberson, Fabian Zetterlund, Mikael Granlund and Mike Hoffman scored for the Sharks and Kaapo Kahkonen made 32 saves for the win. Filip Hronek and Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks and Casey DeSmith made 18 saves in the loss.

It was the Sharks’ fourth win of the season. After the game, Sharks defenseman Calen Addison said: “Obviously we played a real complete game tonight, I think we should have won last night too. So, obviously it’s huge for our group and a win is huge for confidence.”

The Sharks and their goaltender, Kaapo Kahkonen did not give up a goal at even strength Saturday. With their defense firmed up, their offense took on new life. Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said: “We’re looking different, right? We’re looking more cohesive, we’re playing faster, moving pucks, but, spending time in the o-zone feels good.”

Early in the first, Vancouver’s Sam Lafferty put the puck in the net but the goal was called back for goaltender interference. Lafferty’s skate connected with Kahkonen’s as the goaltender rushed back into the blue paint after playing the puck behind the net. As a result, Kahkonen fell before he could get in position.

After that close call, Ty Emberson scored the first goal of the game at 9:58. His slapshot off a Hertl pass was his first in the NHL and the first goal from a Sharks defenseman this season. Assists went to Hertl and Mike Hoffman.

Filip Hronek tied the game at 15:37 with a power play goal. The Canucks’ fourth-ranked power play held the zone and the puck for the full minute that it took them to score. Hronek’s shot went under Kahkonen off a cross-ice pass. Assists went to J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes.

Fabian Zetterlund made it 2-1 Sharks at 14:05 of the second period with a slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle. Tomas Hertl found him with a quick pass from below the goal line after carrying the puck behind the net.

Brock Boeser tied it up again with a power play goal in the final seconds of the period. A rebound from Miller’s shot went right to Boeser for a shot over the goaltender. Assists went to Miller and Hronek.

The Sharks took the lead back with their first shot of the third period just 22 seconds in. The teams were skating four-on-four during a penalty carry-over from the second period. Mikael Granlund carried the puck end-to-end, right up the middle of the ice, weaving his way through the Vancouver defense. He made it to the net for a move worthy of a shoot-out. It was his first goal as a Shark. Assists went to Calen Addison and Mario Ferraro.

Mike Hoffman padded the lead with a power play goal at 1:48. The teams were playing four-on-three. Granlund shot the puck to the net for a deflection. The deflection did not work but Hoffman swept it in with a second try. Assists went to Granlund and Addison.

With 3:11 left in the third, the Canucks pulled their goaltender for an extra skater. Brock Boeser was able to score with a quick shot through traffic. Assists went to Miller (his third of the game) and Elias Pettersson.

In the final minutes of the game, Nico Sturm blocked a shot, had some trouble getting off the ice (though he managed a shot at the empty net on his way) and had to go to the dressing room.

The shots were close in the first period, 10-9 Sharks, but tilted to Vancouver thereafter, ending at 34-22 Canucks. The Sharks had just one power play to the Canucks’ four. Their penalty kill went 2/4 against the proficient Vancouver power play.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 7:30 PM PT at home against the visiting Washington Capitals.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks lose in shootout to Montreal 3-2; Sharks host Canucks tonight

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau (30) defends against a shot attempt by San Jose Sharks center Luke Kunin (11) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 William Eklund scored a shootout goal for the San Jose Sharks (3-15-2) against the Montreal Canadiens (9-9-2) at SAP Center on Friday afternoon it wasn’t enough as the Canadiens Nick Suzuki and Jesse Ylonen scored on Sharks goalie MacKenzie Blackwood for the win 3-2.

#2 The Canadiens Cole Caufield attempted to score on Blackwood in the shootout but Blackwood made a save and had 22 saves for the game.

#2 It was Caufield in the third period who tied up the game 2-2 beating Blackwood at 3:25 with a wrist shot to send the game into the shootout.

#3 The Sharks were hoping to get back in the win column after getting crushed by the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday in Seattle 7-1. The Sharks head coach David Quinn said despite the loss the veteran players led by example making it a much closer game this time around against the Habs.

#4 For the Sharks Mike Hoffman scored his fifth goal in five games, Eklund’s goal was a power play goal so the scoring has improved over the last two games. Hoffman’s goal came from an assist from Eklund 5:06 in the second period.

#5 The Sharks host the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night at 7:30pm. The Sharks lost to the Canucks 3-1 last Monday. The Canucks have lost three of their four games their last game coming against the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Wednesday.

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

Sharks Fall 3-2 in SO to Canadiens; Habs Jlonen scores game winner in sixth round of shootout

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Montreal Canadiens right winger Jesse Ylonen (56) scored the game winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout against San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) at SAP Center in San Jose on Fri Nov 24, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 in a shoot out to the Montreal Canadiens Friday at SAP Center in San Jose. Johnathan Kovacevic and Cole Caulfield scored for Montreal. Nick Suzuki and Jesse Ylönen scored in the shootout and Cayden Primeau made 31 saves for the win. Mike Hoffman and William Eklund scored for San Jose, with a shootout goal from Eklund as well. Tomas Hertl assisted on both regulation goals. Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves in the loss.

It was just two days ago that the Sharks turned in possibly their worst performance this season, in the 7-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken. After Friday’s game, Head Coach David Quinn said the Sharks “certainly looked a lot more like a hockey team tonight than we did against Seattle.”

For the first time this season, the Sharks out-shot their opponent for a final count of 33-24 Sharks. San Jose forward Tomas Hertl described Friday’s game as “A pretty good hockey game. I don’t think we gave them much but the chances we gave them they just cashed in, you know, so it’s tough because we deserved two points tonight.”

Mike Hoffman scored the first of the game at 5:06 of the second period. William Eklund held the puck behind the net after catching a pass from Tomas Hertl. Eklund found Hoffman drifting to the net for the shot.

Eklund made it 2-0 at 12:30 with a power play goal. Right off the offensive zone face-off, Calen Addison passed the puck to Eklund across the ice for a slap shot into the far side of the net. Assists went to Addison and Hertl.

Johnathan Kovacevic cut the lead to 2-1 at 18:02 of the second. His wrist shot from high in the slot went over Blackwood’s outstretched right arm and into the net. Assists went to Jayden Struble and Cole Caufield.

Caufield tied the game 3:26 into the third period. Skating into the zone two-on-one with Christian Dvorak against Nikita Okhotiuk, Caufield opted for the shot and found the top corner. Assists went to Juraj Slafkovsky and goaltender Cayden Primeau.

The Sharks had three shots to the Canadiens’ two shots in the overtime frame. In the shootout, Primeau stopped shots from Fabian Zetterlund, Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund. Tomas Hertl and Anthoney Duclair. Blackwood stopped shots from Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Christian Dvorak and Sean Monahan.

With forward Nico Sturm back in the lineup, the Sharks only used seven defensemen. Filip Zadina left the game at the end of the first period, leaving the team with just ten forwards. Regarding Zadina’s injury, Quinn said: “Upper body injury, so not sure where he stands right now.” The injury did not seem to be a result of a specific event in the first period. Quinn said it was “just something that’s been bothering him and it just acted up.”

The Sharks were bested again in the face-off circle, winning just 43.8% of the draws. The penalties were low in the game, with just two penalties called on each team. The Sharks scored the only power play goal.

The Sharks next play Saturday night at 7:00 PM PT in San Jose against the Vancouver Canucks.

Kraken Sink Sharks 7-1; San Jose drops fifth out of last six games

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The Seattle Karken’s defenseman Will Borgen (3) gets in front of the San Jose Sharks (left winger) Anthony DuClair (10) in first period action at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Wed Nov 22, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 7-1 to the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday. Seattle goals were scored by Brandon Tanev, Oliver Bjorstrand, Adam Larsson, Yanni Gourde, Jared and McCann, with two goals from Eeli Tolvanen. Joey Daccord made 13 saves for the win. Mike Hoffman scored for the Sharks, Kaapo Kahkonen started the game and made 13 saves on 17 shots. Mackenzie Blackwood came in to finish and made 10 saves on 13 shots.

The Sharks had eight defensemen in the lineup, due to unavailable forwards. Kevin Labanc was out due to an injury sustained in Monday’s game. Nico Sturm was away for personal reasons. Still injured are Logan Couture, Oskar Lindblom and Alexander Barabanov. Although the team used eight defensemen, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was a scratch.

After the game, Anthony Duclair was asked if the team’s poor performance was a result of the missing regulars. He said: “Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup, you gotta compete. You’re in the NHL, you gotta compete and if you don’t compete that’s what’s gonna happen in the first period. It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup, everybody has to be ready to go and it cost us.”

The first period was the worst for the Sharks. They gave up four goals, and but for an off-side call, it would have been five. The Sharks managed seven shots in the period but allowed seventeen to the Kraken.

“We can’t start a game like that in the NHL, you’re going to get embarrassed. We’ve been embarrassed before this season but nothing like the first period today. That was just unacceptable,” said Duclair. Asked what went wrong for the team, he said: “We just got out-competed, that’s not the xs and os, it’s win battles and losing battles one v one all over the ice and it cost us.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn went into more detail:

“Embarrassing. We weren’t ready to play. Two break aways in the first minute and a half. I mean just absolutely freaking embarrassing. We lost every single battle, got beat off walls every time there was a 50/50 puck battle we’re fishing for pucks get on the wrong side of it. One guy would get beat one on one and the other guy would dive in.”

In light of that start, the second period might have been worse. The Kraken only had four shots, but they had a four goal lead. The Sharks, trailing as they were, still had just one shot in the period. The total shot count for the game was 30-14 Kraken. The Sharks even had an unusually bad night in the face-off circle. Though they were missing Nico Sturm, their second best in that department, the rest of the team’s top three were present. Still, the Sharks won just 48% of the draws.

Quinn was asked if Wednesday’s performance was a symptom of the team being fragile this season. Quinn seemed out of patience with that excuse:

“I don’t want to hear about freakin fragile, okay? It’s the National freakin Hockey League and you better show up ready to play every freakin night. I don’t care about fragile, sometimes you don’t have it, I get it, but you want to show up and play with the right freakin intentions and we didn’t do it.”

The Sharks will next play on Friday at 12:30 PM PT against the Montreal Canadiens in San Jose.

Canucks two goals in second period takes care of Sharks 3-1; A game almost fit for a Duke

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San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl (48) and Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) anticipate on Harry The Duke of Sussex for the puck drop before Mon Nov 20, 2023 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver BC (photo from San Jose Sharks X)

By Torben Rolfsen

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -The toothless San Jose Sharks (3-14-1) started off a two-game swing through the Pacific Northwest Monday night by dropping a 3-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks (13-5-1) at Rogers Arena.

Despite slightly outhitting the Canucks, the Sharks never looked dangerous, were outshot 40-28, and soundly beaten in the faceoff circle.

J.T. Miller made it 3-1 with just under thirteen minutes left when he tapped in a quick rebound in front that Mackenzie Blackwood had no chance on.

Things got a little amped up late in the second period as the Canucks Nils Hoglander was assessed a five minute match penalty for using his right leg to flip over the Sharks Kevin Labanc with 1:29 to go.

Sam Lafferty then scored shorthanded for the Canucks with under a second left in the middle frame.

Tomas Hertl scored the lone San Jose goal as the major power play continued into the early third, with assists to Calen Addison and Mikael Granlund.

With 8:50 left in the second, William Eklund appeared to put the Sharks ahead 1-0 on a scramble in front of the Vancouver goal, but Canucks coach Rick Tocchet used a coach’s challenge to get the goal waved off for a borderline goaltender interference call after an official video review.

San Jose netminder Mackenzie Blackwood remained razor sharp through the middle of the second.

NHL scoring leader Quinn Hughes broke the 0-0 deadlock at 13:07, doing his Bobby Orr impression on a brilliant individual effort to wire one past Blackwood.

A low-event first period saw the Canucks outshoot the Sharks 12-7, but Blackwood was very steady.

Attendance was announced at 18,718 , which included the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, watching from the royal box.

The Sharks take on the Kraken Wednesday night in Seattle.

San Jose State Beats Hampton 71-52 In The Paradise Jam Tournament

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Monday, November 20th, 2023

By Troy Ewers 

U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Thomas – In the final game of the Paradise Jam tournament San Jose State faced off against Hampton University and the Spartans won by a decisive margin. 71-52 SJSU. The reason this game was such a blowout was because the Spartans got the best from their star players. 

Tibet Gorener, Trey Anderson, Myron Amey Jr., and Alvaro Cardenas all went crazy, especially Cardenas. Cardenas was the leading scorer with 23 points and he was 50% from the field. Adrame Diongue was one point and one rebound away from a double double and even though the Spartans were out played on the boards by Hampton, a key for SJSU was points off turnovers, 22 points. 

Hampton only scored 19 points in the 2nd half which won’t ever get you a win, but when SJSU scored 42 in that same half, it’s impossible to beat that. 

The next game for the Spartans will be back in San Jose against North Dakota State on November 27th and the Spartans are ready to get back to regular season play after spending the weekend in paradise.

San Jose State Becomes Bowl Eligible After A 24-13 Victory Against San Diego State

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Off and running the San Jose State University Spartans did enough to score and stay ahead of the San Diego State Aztecs at Spartan Stadium in San Jose on Sat Nov 18, 2023 (SJSU photo)

Saturday, November 18th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – In CEFCU Stadium, the San Jose State Spartans host the San Diego State Aztecs as SJSU looks to win their fifth game in a row. The Spartans look to become bowl eligible for the third time in the last four seasons and it could be the first time the Spartans have ever gone to three bowl games in four seasons and Coach Brent Brennan would be the first head coach in SJSU history to lead the Spartans to three bowl games. 

The first quarter starts with the Spartans having the ball and nothing comes after five plays, but the game plan is visible. Spread the ball around and play a balanced game for their final home game this season. San Diego State running back Jaylon Armstead carried the majority offense for the Aztecs opening drive, even supplying a 39 yard drive, but after surviving a fourth and 3 Armstead jammed the ball in from the 1 yard line and scored the first touchdown of the game, 7-0 San Diego State.

The second drive for the Spartans goes the whole rest of the first quarter, but it doesn’t come without a sense of anxiety when there was a fumble on a handoff that was recovered by the Spartans, but the quarter ends with the Aztecs up 7-0.

San Jose State starts the second from their red zone and Chevan Cordeiro hits Dominick Mazotti for a 10 yard pass in the end zone for a touchdown and the Spartans even the score up 7-7 to start the second quarter.

Cordeiro now has 17 touchdown passes after that last one and is now two away from tying Derek Carr for fourth all time in Mountain West history. On the next drive for the Spartans, Cordeiro kept the drive alive with a little brotherly shove, but the very next play Cordeiro throws an interception to Chris Johnson who returns it for 44 yards.

The Spartans defense was able to recover from the interception and kept the Aztecs outside the red zone and forced them to kick a field goal which they made and now were in the lead again 10-7. Cordeiro recovered from his interception by slinging the ball down the field his very next drive, going 5-7 for 49 yards, but it wasn’t enough the San Diego State defense forced the Spartans to kick a field goal and it was good to tie the game at halftime. 

The Aztecs started the third quarter and couldn’t convert on the fourth down after a 49 yard drive, Spartans’ ball and the chance to take the lead and change the momentum of this game. Cordeiro continued his great passing display with a pass to Isaac Jernagin for 42 yards.

This was followed up with a game changing moment from Quali Conley running for a 20 yard touchdown and after the successful extra point, the Spartans were up 17-10 with 6:16 left in the third quarter and the momentum in their favor.

The momentum didn’t stop for the Spartans as they were able to spoil the next drive for the Aztecs, but Bryun Parham racked up his first interception of the season and returned for 20 yards to give SJSU great field position and a chance to wedge a gap in this game.

The Spartans drive started out terribly though when a failed reverse resulted in a loss of 17 yards, putting the Spartans farther than they wanted to the drive. This disadvantage led to a three and out and forced the Spartans to punt, killing the hype they had after that big interception. The Aztecs ended the quarter with the ball, but not the greatest field position. 

The fourth quarter was majority SDSU gaining field position, but were able to get all the way to the red zone and a chance to tie it up. The rain came out of nowhere and started pouring as the Spartans defense stopped them and forced the Aztecs to hit a field goal, preventing a tie, 17-13.

When the Spartans got the ball the game was solidified when their running backs did what they do best. Conley got a huge run that was just supposed to run the clock down, but the Spartans weren’t done and Kairee Robinson on Senior Night scored on a rushing touchdown, setting a school record with 16 rushing touchdowns this season and his ninth consecutive game with a touchdown making it 24-13 San Jose State. The Aztecs had one more chance to make things happen and they pushed the ball down the field, but a pick by Tre Jenkins put the nail in the coffin. 

The game ended 24-13 with the Spartans getting the victory and punching their ticket for bowl eligibility. The Spartans still have a chance to get second place in the Mountain West and have a possible Mountain West Championship game ahead, but for now they celebrate this win. Next week the Spartans will face the leaders of the Mountain West, UNLV in Las Vegas for the final regular game of the season.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks get great defense against Blues; SJ take on Canucks in Vancouver Monday night

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The San Jose Sharks Mikael Granlund (64) congratulates Sharks goaltender (36) Kaapo Kahkonen on making 44 saves out of 45 shots against at SAP Center on Thu Nov 16, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa the San Jose Sharks (3-13-1) lit up the lamp against St Louis Blues (8-6-1) for four goals in the second period on Thursday night at SAP Center in San Jose.

#2 The Sharks got scoring from Luke Lunin, Givani Smith and William Eklund with a goal each and Mike Hoffman added two goals this is the kind of offense the Sharks have not seen too much of this early season.

#3 The Sharks Ryan Carpenter helped out with two assists and his veteran experience has helped the Sharks with a game like this a three goal win over the decent Blues team.

#4 Between the pipes for San Jose goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 44 shots and allowed just one St Louis goal.

#5 The Sharks open a brief two game road trip on Monday night against the Vancouver Canucks (12-4-1) a 7:00pm PT face off at the Rogers Centre in Vancouver. The Sharks head to Seattle against the Kraken on Wed Nov 22 at Climate Pledge Arena.

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

Sharks Beat Blues In Decisive 5-1 Victory; Three Game Skid Comes To An End

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The San Jose Sharks had lots to be happy about as they’re offense was on as they defeated the visiting St Louis Blues at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Nov 16, 2023 (photo from Hockey News)

Thursday, November 16th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – It’s the San Jose Sharks against the St. Louis Blues in another regular season game and the Sharks are still looking for their third win. The positive for SJ right now in this wild season is that Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks in points and after last game he’s tied with Owen Nolan (206) for fifth on Sharks’ all-time goals list and can take over the spot after tonight. 

The first period was one of the strongest periods for the Sharks this season. Two minutes into the game former St. Louis player Mike Hoffman scored in the slot off a pass from Nico Sturm that put the Sharks up early, 1-0 San Jose.

Last game against the Florida Panthers, Hoffman scored his first goal of the season and now comes back in the building and gets his second. The Sharks had a way stronger attack this period than they did at any point last game plus there’s a sense of chemistry that the Sharks have been looking for from this group.

Another bright spot about this first period was Kaapo Kahkonen who blocked 11 shots this period, but had a couple saves that got big applause from the Sharks crowd. 

San Jose blew the doors open this second period with four goals and it was in outstanding fashion. 17 seconds in Nikita Okhotiuk hits a slapshot and it’s deflected by William Eklund and he gets the second goal. Eklund’s third goal of the season 2-0 SJ.

The rally continued from an “unlikely” source, Givani Smith got his first goal of the season with a wrist shot (assisted by Kunin & Carpenter), 3-0 SJ. A minute after that Luke Kunin scored making it 4-0 and the Blues changed goalies from Joel Hofer to Jordan Binnington, but the game didn’t change even though the goalies did.

The Blues were deflated, but San Jose wasn’t, they were amplified to a level unseen all season. 13:45 into the period and the Sharks scored again. Hoffman got his second goal on a breakaway and the score became 5-0 all the way through the rest of the period.

This second period wasn’t just a showcase of SJ’s best stuff, but it was an improvement on the faults that Coach Quinn wanted them to fix and it seems like they did exactly that.

Kaapo’s continued his great performance stopping everything in his path early in the third period. At this point in the game six Sharks players had multi points (Okhotiuk, Hoffman, Smith, Carpenter, Zadina, and Kunin) and on top of that this was Kunin’s third consecutive game with a goal.

Smith’s goal was the 300th goal scored in franchise history and all these positives resulted in probably the best game of this Sharks season so far. The Sharks couldn’t end their night in a shutout that’s a fairy tale, the Blues get a goal with about six minutes left in the game, but Kaapo still had 39 saves by the time of the goal. 5-1. The clock ran down and the game ended with this 5-1 score and a happy San Jose fan base.

The Sharks get a deserved break before their next game which is November 20th against the Vancouver Canucks Rogers Centre in Vancouver.