Tag: Nico Sturm

Sharks Win 6-2 Over Sabres, Georgiev Wins Back-to-Back Games

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left to right the San Jose Sharks Mario Ferraro (38), Macklin Celebrini (71) congratulate goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) who stopped 20 Buffalo Sabres shots at Key Bank Center in Buffalo on Tue Mar 4, 2025 (San Jose Sharks X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 on Tuesday. Timothy Liljegren, Nico Sturm, Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose. Alexandar Georgiev made 20 saves for San Jose the win. JJ Peterka and Tage Thommpson scored for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves in the loss.

After a loss in Montreal, Nico Sturm said that the Sharks were having trouble extending their lead, that they needed to “just score another goal.” The team did that Tuesday night with four goals in the third period. Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “Our guys were committed to it. You could tell from the beginning of puck drop we wanted to win the hockey game. We went on the attack.”

Two wins in a row has not been easy for the Sharks, but these wins had the distinction of being on back to back nights, with an overtime and shootout the first night, and the same Sharks goalie in both games. It was a somewhat unusual schedule for the San Jose goaltender: “I wouldn’t say it threw off my routine. Just probably not a lot of sleep. After the last win, I was pretty hyped. Yeah I felt… just trying to battle it out in the first period, have a good first and see what happened.”

After a scoreless first period, the Sharks scored 1:01 into the second period. Timothy Liljegren caught a cross-ice pass from William Eklund and took a shot. The puck slid under Luukkonen and went just over the line. The officials did not see it and play went on. A later review called it a goal. Assists went to Eklund and Jake Walman.

JJ Peterka tied it at 5:13 on a power play. Peterka scored with a slap shot off of a set up by Rasmus Dahlin. Assists went to Dahlin and Jack Quinn.

Nico Sturm gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 18:22. Collin Graf passed the puck across the ice and it went off of a Sabres defender. Sturm was right on hand to catch that stray puck and put it away. Assists went to Graf and Klim Kostin.

The Sharks out-shot the Sabres 11-5 in the first period. The Sabres took two penalties in the first, and the Sharks took two in the second. The Sabres had a tiny edge in shots for the second period, 11-10.

William Eklund extended the lead to 3-1 at early in the third period. Catching a pass off the boards from Toffoli, he shot the puck from just above the goal line. Toffoli and Shakir Mukhamadullin got the assists.

Tage Thompson trimmed that lead at 6:55 with a slap shot off a pass from Peterka. An assist also went to Connor Clifton.

Just over a minute later, Macklin Celebrini scored his 19th of the season. He had just come off the bench and the Sharks were swarming the net. Mukhamadullin passed the puck across the ice to Celebrini for a wrist shot. An assist also went to Will Smith.

Smith scored at 12:49 to make it 5-2. Smith caught a pass off the boards from Fabian Zetterlund in the Sharks’ end. He then skated all the way to the other end, evading the Sabres defense to score his 11th of the season.

Tyler Toffoli scored into an empty net at 18:01. Assists went to Jake Walman and Timothy Liljegren.

On the trade front, Vitek Vanecek was held out of Tuesday’s game in anticipation of a trade. Which team the Sharks are dealing with has not been announced.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Colorado against the Avalanche at 6:30 PM PT.

Canadiens Sink Sharks 4-3 in OT, Sharks Losing Streak at 7

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Montreal Canadians Alex Newhook (15) scores on the San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexander Geogiev in the third period at the Belle Centre in Montreal on Thu Feb 27, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-3 in OT to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. Nick Suzuki, Alex Newhook and Cole Caulfield scored for Montreal. Sam Montembeault made 23 saves for the win. Fabian Zetterlund, Nico Sturm and Will Smith scored for San Jose. Alexandar Georgiev made 29 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Will Smith said: “We gotta learn how to win. It’s been I don’t even know how many times this year so, it adds up and we’ve just gotta be better.”

Nico Sturm explained what was missing from the Sharks’ game at this point: “I think the one thing we haven’t done all year is score another goal. Either when we’re up or the game is tied, just score another goal and put a two goal lead or three goal lead. That’s what we haven’t done.”

The game got off to a flying start with four goals scored in the first period. At 3:56, Fabian Zetterlund scored to give San Jose the lead. Will Smith won the race for the puck and carried it behind the net. He passed it up to Zetterlund for a snap shot just outside the goal post. Assists went to Smith and Alexander Wennberg.

Nick Suzuki tied the game at 6:49 with a snap shot from high in the slot. Assists went to Cole Caulfield and Juraj Slafkovsky.

Nico Sturm made it 2-1 Sharks at 12:39. Sturm and Klim Kostin skated into the zone. Kostin carried the puck below the goal line before sending it back up to Sturm for the shot. Assists went to Kostin and Collin Graf.

Nick Suzuki tied it again in the final minute of the period. Suzuki won the offensive zone face-off, then caught Lane Hutson‘s pass from the blue line and took the shot from just above the hash marks. Assists went to Hutson and Jayden Struble.

Will Smith gave the Sharks their third lead of the game at 17:21 of the second period. Alexander Wennberg won a faceoff in the defensive zone and got the puck to Shakir Mukhamadullin. Mukhamadullin passed it to Smith, who carried it through the neutral zone, into the Canadiens’ zone, and scored with a shot from the hash marks.

Alex Newhook tied it 3-3 at 2:22 of the third period. Newhook, Patrik Laine and Owen Beck swarmed the crease and the puck ping-ponged around among them. Laine and Beck got the assists.

Cole Caulfield scored the game winner at 3:21 of OT. He caught Suzuki’s pass on the Canadiens’ blue line and carried the puck all the way down the ice for a snap shot from in close. Assists went to Suzuki and Montembeault.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 4:00 PM PT in Ottawa against the Senators.

Sharks Beat Red Wings 6-3 end 3 game skid, Wings end 7 game win streak, SJ scores 4 in third period

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The San Jose Sharks defenseman Cody Ceci and defenseman Jan Rutta (84) celebrate a first period goal that put the Sharks up on the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Tue Jan 14, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 on Tuesday. Jan Rutta, Nico Sturm, William Eklund, Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli and Mario Ferraro scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves for the win. Vladimir Tarasenko and Lucas Raymond scored for the Red Wings. Ville Husso made 18 saves in the loss.

The Sharks have given up the lead in the third period in several recent games. After the game, Jan Rutta said: “We’ve been in this situation more than a few times this year. So, we got the job done today. Hopefully that’s just a sign of us taking steps in the right direction and that when we have the lead we can play like tonight.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky talked about Georgiev’s performance in the win: “He was tracking pucks, he was locked in, made some huge saves for us, so… You can see his game it’s been trending in the right direction. So happy that he got rewarded tonight with the win for sure.”

The Sharks took an early lead with a goal from Jan Rutta at 1:45. Alexander Wennberg stole the puck away from Detroit below the goal line, then centered it for Will Smith. Smith took the shot and then caught his own rebound. He passed it up to Rutta above the faceoff circles. Rutta took the shot from high in the slot through some traffic. Assists went to Smith and Wennberg.

The Sharks added to their lead with a short-handed goal at 17:41. William Eklund broke away into the neutral zone then lost the puck before he got to the Detroit blue line. He gathered the puck back up and passed it to Nico Sturm on the blue line. Sturm carried the puck in and took the shot from just above the goal line. Assists went to Eklund and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Sharks were badly outshot in the first period, 12-6 by the Red Wings. The Sharks took the only first period penalty. Their penalty kill allowed two shots but also took two shots and scored once.

Vladimir Tarasenko got the Red Wings on the board at 1:28 of the second period, catching a rebound from Simon Edvinsson’s shot for a snap shot. Assists went to Edvinsson and Jonatan Berggren.

The Sharks outshot the Red Wings in the second, 9-6. The Sharks also took the only second period penalty. The penalty kill got one short handed shot and did not allow any shots against.

William Eklund made it 3-1 28 seconds into the third period. Eklund passed the puck behind the net to Celebrini, who then passed it back through the blue paint to Eklund, who knocked it into the net. Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli got the assists.

Tarasenko trimmed the Sharks’ lead again, with his second of the night. Erik Gustafsson shot the puck off the backboards so that it centered just as Tarasenko arrived at the net to shoot it in. Gustafsson and Joe Veleno got the assists.

The Sharks took back their two goal lead at 7:43 with a power play goal. Mikael Granlund caught a pass from Macklin Celebrini at the top of the faceoff circle. Granlund carried the puck almost past the net before scoring with a backhand shot.

Lucas Raymond got one back for Detroit at 9:56 with a wrist shot. Going right to the net after a faceoff, he caught the pass from faceoff winner Dylan Larkin.

Tyler Toffoli made it 5-3 at 10:57. William Eklund gathered up a loose puck in front of the net and passed it ahead to Toffoli, who shot it in from a bad angle.

Mario Ferraro scored an empty net goal at 18:22 with a shot from just above the Sharks’ goal line.

The shots were almost even at 10-9 Sharks in the third period. The Red Wings took their first penalty of the game and the only one called in the third. The Sharks power play got two shots on goal and scored.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 4:00 PM PT in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

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

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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.

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

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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.

Sharks Win 1-0, Blackwood Shuts Out Devils

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San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood stopped all 44 New Jersey Devils shots for a shutout at the Prudential Arena in Newark NJ on Sun Nov 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the New Jersey Devils 1-0 on Sunday. Nico Sturm scored the only goal of the game and Mackenzie Blackwood made 44 saves for the win. Jake Allen made 26 saves for New Jersey.

The Devils made a good push in the third period, keeping the Sharks mostly on their heels. After the game, Nico Sturm said

“They played last night and I thought we took advantage of that, in the first two periods especially. It’s tough to shut down that cycle game, that skill game that they have, for sixty minutes. It’s almost impossible to do. I thought we did a great job for the most part, stayed tight. Obviously Blackie, huge game by him today.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky also praised his goaltender: “Blackie was outstanding. Probably the best I’ve seen him play. You could tell he was dialed in, focused, tracking pucks really well.”

Nico Sturm put the Sharks on the board at 16:21 of the first period. Sturn sent the puck to the net from a bad angle. It went off of Allen and then off of Timo Meier before slipping past Carl Grundstrom and into the net. Assists went to Grundstrom and Henry Thrun.

The Sharks had a slight lead in shots during the first period, 12-10. The Sharks had the only power play of the period.

Fabian Zetterlund pushed the puck into the net at 12:45 of the second period but it was overturned. The officials said that Zetterlund had pushed the goaltender’s pad into the net with the puck.

The Devils had the advantage in shots for the second period 15-10. The Devils took two penalties and the Sharks took one but all of the penalty kills were perfect again.

In the third period, the Devils pushed hard, out-shooting the Sharks 19-5. The Sharks took the only penalty of the period but managed to kill it.

The Sharks play again on Monday at 4:00 PM PT in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

Sharks Lose 7-3 to Golden Knights, Losing Streak at 9

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Vegas Golden Knights celebrate a first period goal as the San Jose Sharks Mikael Granlund (64) foreground skates off. The Sharks once again surrender three goals in the first period this time at T Mobile Center in Las Vegas at Sat Oct 26, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 7-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights, bringing their season-opening losing streak to nine. Tanner Pearson, Jack Eichel, Brett Howden, Pavel Dorofayev and Mark Stone scored for Vegas. Ilya Samsonov made 23 saves for the win. Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm and Luke Kunin scored for San Jose. Vitek Vanacek made 35 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro talked about the team’s slow starts:

“We gotta find a way to weather the storm in energetic buildings. LA, it’s their home opener, same thing kinda happened. We’re chasing the game far too much right now. I think there’s a lot more areas that are not good enough but that’s definitely something that’s not helping our case.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky described the team’s state of mind: “I don’t think anyone’s happy by any means. There’s a lot of emotion in that locker room. Frustration, anger. It’s tough. It’s tough right now.”

Tanner Pearson scored the first goal of the night with the first shot of the game at 1:54. William Karlsson set up the slap shot with a quick backhand pass off the boards. A secondary assist went to Alexander Holtz.

Jack Eichel made it 2-0 less than two minutes later. Mark Stone moved up to the right point before passing the puck to Eichel in the left faceoff circle. Alex Pietrangelo also got an assist.

Brett Howden made it 3-0 late in the period. Tomas Hertl carried the puck in and then made a pass to Howden who was skating to the net. Howden scored with a wrist shot on Vanacek’s stick side. Pavel Dorofeyev got the secondary assist.

The Sharks were outshot 22-4 in the first period.

Mikael Granlund got one back for the Sharks midway through the second period. Granlund tried a wrap-around and when that did not work he got the puck right back and pushed it over the line. William Eklund and Mario Ferraro got the assists.

William Karlsson scored short-handed less than a minute later. Vanacek took a chance and came well out of the net to poke the puck away but Karlsson got it back and evaded the discombobulated Sharks defense. Pietrangelo got an assist.

Pavel Dorofeyev made it 5-1 with a power play goal in the last minute of the second period. Assists went to Shea Theodore and Mark Stone.

Nico Sturm scored the Sharks’ second goal a few seconds later with a wrist shot into the top corner from the faceoff circle.

The Sharks came closer in shots during the second period, mustering 11 to Vegas’ 15.

Mark Stone made it 6-2 at 11:10 of the third period. Eichel carried the puck towards the net and then found Stone with a drop pass. Assists went to Eichel and Barbashev.

Luke Kunin scored the Sharks’ third goal from a scrum in front of the net at 13:29. An assist went to Fabian Zetterlund.

Brett Howden scored his second of the night at 17:07. Assists went to Dorofeyev and Hertl.

The Sharks only allowed five shots in the third period and got credit for 11.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 6:00 PM PT in Salt Lake City against the Utah Hockey Club.

Sharks Defeated 8-3 by Jets, Take a Big Step Back, Loss is Fifth Straight

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The Winnipeg Jets Gabriel Valardi (13) and Nikolaj Ehlers (27) celebrate Ehler’s goal as the San Jose Sharks Mikael Granlund (64) skates by in first period action at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Fri Oct 18, 2024 (Canadian Press photo via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The Sharks fell 8-3 to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. Josh Morrissey, Nikolaj Ehlers, Neal Pionk, Kyle Connor, Cole Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Jets, with two goals each from Ehlers and Perfetti. Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves for the win. Tykler Toffoli, Luke Kunin and Fabian Zeterlund scored for the Sharks.MacKenzie Blackwood made 13 saves on 18 shots before being replaced by Vitek Vanacek, who made 15 saves on 18 shots.

After the game, Sharks forward Nico Sturm said:

“The truth is, we did take a big step back these last two games. I thought we looked really really good the first three games of the season. I thought we looked really good in Dallas, on the road against a Stanley Cup contender. And then we took two massive steps back these last two nights. It felt a lot like last year, these last two games.”

Josh Morrissey opened the scoring for the Jets at 1:59. Nikolaj Ehlers carried the puck in to the goal line before passing it back to Colin Miller at the point. Miller passed it along the blue line to Morrissey for a long shot into the far corner of the net.

Ehlers scored the next one for the Jets at 9:25. Mark Scheifele passed the puck to Gabriel Vilardi at the net. Instead of trying for the shot, Vilardi sent the puck back out to Ehlers in the faceoff circle. Ehlers did take the shot.

Tyler Toffoli made it 2-1 with a power play goal at 11:43, tipping a shot from Jake Walman at the point. Mikael Granlund also got an assist.

Ehlers scored his second of the game at 13:31. Cole Perfetti took the puck away from the Sharks in the neutral zone and passed it to Ehlers, who skated into the Sharks zone and scored.

Neal Pionk made it 4-1 at 18:48 with a wrist shot from the point. Assists went to Ales Iafallo and Vladislav Namestnikov.

At the end of the first period, the Sharks had been outscored 4-1 and outshot 15-8. They also took three penalties, two of which overlapped for some five on three time and the third was a too many men penalty. Altogether not a good period for the Sharks, but they did score a power play goal.

Kyle Connor made it 5-1 with a wrist shot from the slot less than two minutes into the second period. Assists went to Pionk and Valardi.

The Sharks changed goaltenders after that goal.

Luke Kunin scored to cut the Jets’ lead to 5-2. Cody Ceci took a shot from the point but it went off of Iafallo. Carl Grundstrom gathered it back up and passed it back to Kunin in the slot.

At the end of the second period, the Sharks had again been outshot 14-8, but were not outscored in the period.

Cole Perfetti made it 6-2 with a power play goal at 9:50 of the third period. Iafallo carried the puck almost to the net before passing it back to Perfetti in the slot for the shot. An assist also went to Namestnikov.

Fabian Zetterlund showed some push back with a goal less than 20 seconds later. Toffoli carried the puck in two-on-one with Zetterlund and made a late pass to set up the shot. An assist also went to Granlund.

Perfetti scored his second of the night, another power play goal at 12:55. Pionk and Namestnikov assisted. Namestnikov scored with a wrist shot in the final minute to make it 8-3. Pionk and Perfetti got the assists.

The final shot count was 36-22 Jets.

The Sharks next play on Sunday back in San Jose, against the Colorado Avalanche at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Win 6-5 in OT Barnburner Against Red Wings

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MacKenzie Blackwood (29) is replaced in the second period by Kaapo Kahkonen (36) against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Cesars Pizza Arena in Detroit on Thu Dec 7, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated Detroit Red Wings 6-5 in overtime Thursday. Sharks got goals from Fabian Zetterlund and Mikael Granlund, and Nico Sturm and Tomas Hertl each scored twice. Mackenzie Blackwood made 16 saves on 20 shots before being replaced by Kaapo Kahkonen, who made 10 saves for the win. Detroit got goals from Klim Kostin, Lucas Raymond, and Dylan Larkin, and Michael Rasmussen scored twice. Ville Husso made 30 save in the loss.

“When we got our first goal, we knew we were going to come back. That’s a great feeling to have. We just played hockey, we played a really good game today,” said Fabian Zetterlund after the game. Sharks Head Coach David Quinn described the ups and downs of the game:

“I didn’t feel like we were playing like we should be down four-nothing. But, you know, a couple goals, quick hitters from the point by them. It was real disappointing, Then, obviously just to turn it on, to score two huge short-handed goals and really a third, when you think about it, the one when Vlasic comes out of the box and makes a hell of a pass.”

At the end of the first period, the game was scoreless but the shots were 14-7 Sharks. But it was Detroit that scored first, midway through the second period. Chasing down the puck as it drifted towards the net right off the face-off, Klim Kostin fought through Mario Ferraro to tap the puck under Mackenzie Blackwood’s pad. That was Detroit’s 11th shot of the game.

A few minutes later, Michael Rasmussen went on a tear. First, he tipped one in off a blue line shot from Daniel Sprong. Seconds later, he tipped one in from a similar shot from Ben Chiarot. Andrew Copp got a secondary assist on that one.

Lucas Raymond scored another for Detroit with a wrist shot, making it three goals in 49 seconds of playing time. Assists went to Ben Chiarot and Robby Fabbri.

The Sharks pulled Blackwood after that and put Kaapo Kahkonen in goal.

Tomas Hertl stopped the bleeding for the Sharks with a short handed goal at 14:08. He carried the puck through the neutral zone and in, then faked a pass and shot the puck under the goaltender. Assists went to William Eklund and Jan Rutta. That was the first short-handed goal of the season for the Sharks.

Fabian Zetterlund decided to try one of those too, and made it 4-2 with a second short-handed goal during the same penalty kill. It was Zetterlund’s first career short-handed goal. Assists went to Jan Rutta and Mikael Granlund.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic exited the penalty box where he had watched his team score twice. Soon enough, he assisted on Nico Sturm’s goal to make it 4-3. Kyle Burroughs got a secondary assist.

Sturm finished the comeback with a second goal, tying the game at 19:37. Assists went to Justin Bailey and Kevin Labanc.

At the end of the second, the shot count was 23-22 Detroit.

Dylan Larkin broke the tie at 13:20 of the third period. The Red Wings outnumbered the Sharks skating into the zone and after a few passes to mix things up, Larkin snapped the puck past Kahkonen. Assists went to Raymond and Fabbri.

With almost three minutes left in regulation, the Sharks pulled Kahkonen for an extra skater. It paid off, despite some close calls with Detroit circling the empty net. Finally, with 1:29 left, Tomas Hertl scored in a scramble at the side of the Detroit net. Granlund shot the puck into the backboards and it rebounded perfectly to Hertl for the shot. Assists went to Granlund and Alexander Barabanov.

Mikael Granlund scored the game winner 35 seconds into overtime. Zetterlund broke away after Larkin fell in the neutral zone, then made the pass to Granlund for a snap shot.

Neither team scored a power play goal, but each team had two opportunities. The final shot count was 36-31 Sharks. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won just 39.1% of the draws.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights at 7:00 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: With Couture out Sharks looking for shot in arm on offense

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San Jose Sharks center and team captain Logan Couture is out with a lower body injury for the rest of camp and pre season. His return could be when the regular season starts Thu Oct 12, 2023

SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Mary Lisa, The first day of camp everybody usually is pretty positive about the upcoming season but when the news was dropped that center and team captain Logan Couture would miss camp and pre season games it gives some doubt in the dressing room about team direction doesn’t it?

#2 The Sharks got the news one hour into the first day of camp that Couture would be out with a lower body injury. With Couture out of the line up what does the offense look like and will enough practices and pre season games help find an answer for his absence?

#3 The odds makers are saying this upcoming season could be the worst start in Sharks history since they broke into the league as an expansion team in 1991-92.

#4 The Sharks who will not be able to lean on former teammates defenseman Erik Karlsson (now with Pittsburgh) and last year’s top scorer Timo Meier (New Jersey Devils) and the way things are looking they might see a difference in their absence right off the next face off?

#5 Nico Strum said there are nine guys with expiring contracts and there is going to be more turnover expected and this rebuild is going to take a while. No doubt there will be an adjustment period.

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