San Jose Sharks left winger William Eklund (72) skates off the ice after the Detroit Red Wings defeat San Jose at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Fri Jan 16, 2026 (AP News photo)
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks fell 4-2 to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper scored for the Red Wings. John Gibson made 20 saves for the win. Will Smith and Collin Graf scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 21 saves in the loss.
It was Smith’s first game back after being injured December 13. Talking about his return to the lineup, Will Smith said: “I felt good. I think you try to get your legs into it in the first period. So it’s been quite a bit so I was trying to get going a bit and felt pretty good.”
Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of Friday’s game: “We couldn’t make a play for the life of us. It just snow-balled from there.” As for the challenge of back-to-back games, he said: “I mean, everyone’s dealing with the schedule, back-to- backs, everyone has it. It is what it is, we gotta find ways to be better in back-to-back nights. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that but tonight, our legs wouldn’t follow our brains. You know, so, hopefully, it’s a learning moment.”
Alex DeBrincat scored the first goal of the game on a power play at 6:18 of the first period. DeBrincat caught a cross ice pass from Lucas Raymond and snapped the puck into the net from the faceoff dot. Assists went to Raymond and James van Riemsdyk.
Will Smith tied the game at 9:54 by following a Macklin Celebrini shot to the net. The puck trickled past the goaltender and Smith dove to give it an extra nudge over the line. Assists went to Celebrini and John Klingberg.
The shots were 9-7 Detroit in the first, and the Sharks took the only penalty of the period.
Collin Graf gave the Sharks a lead at 1:58 of the second period. Skating to the net, he tipped Nick Leddy’s centering pass. Assists went to Leddy and Sam Dickinson.
J.T. Compher tied it back up with a snap shot at 6:55. The Red Wings got behind the Sharks defense and wound up skating in three-on-one. An assist went to Marco Kasper.
The Red Wings again outshot the Sharks, 9-4, with the only penalty of the period going against the Sharks.
Dylan Larkin gave Detroit at lead at 4:41 with a backhand. Assists went to Raymond and van Riemsdyk.
The Red Wings scored one more goal, an empty netter from Marco Kasper at 18:38. An assist went to Raymond.
The Sharks finally outshot Detroit in the third, 10-7, and they got their first power play of the game as well.
The Sharks next play on Monday in Sunrise, Florida against the Panthers at 3:00 PM PT.
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