Sharks Fall 4-2 to Avalanche, Losing Streak at 4 Going Into Olympic Break

San Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund (left) puts a shot on Colorado Avalanche goaltenter MacKenzie Blackwood in the second period at Ball Arena in Denver on Wed Feb 4, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-2 to the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday. Artturi Lehkonen, Josh Manson and Brock Nelson scored for the Avalanche. MacKenzie Blackwood made 23 saves for the win. Timothy Liljegren and Philipp Kurashev scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves in the loss. The loss and the three before it saw the Sharks plummet out of a playoff position.

In the final Sharks game before the Olympic break, Kiefer Sherwood made his debut in teal. He finished the game with one shot, one blocked shot, four hits and two penalty minutes. After the game, he discussed the team’s failure to start on time, despite a good effort in the third period: “The League’s too unforgiving to not play a full 60. So we’ll take the lesson and move on and be ready to get our work boots on the second half.”

Of the upcoming break, Sherwood said: “Our team needs a break. Obviously it comes at a good time. I know that was my first game so obviously I wish we’d get more. We’ll light the fire during break and come ready to rage in the second half.”

In a scoreless first period, the Avalanche outshot the Sharks 14 to 5. Each team took two penalties. The second period was Artturi Lehkonen’s time to shine. He scored the first goal at 1:05, a deflected shot from Valeri Nichushkin. An assist also went to Cale Makar.

His second goal came at 15:47, a snap shot from the top of the faceoff circle. Assists went to Nathan MacKinnon and Nichushkin.

Colorado outshot San Jose 17-8 in the second period, with one penalty to each team.

The Sharks tied the game early in the third period. Timothy Liljegren scored with a slap shot just 43 seconds in. Assists went to Alexander Wennberg and John Klingberg.

Philipp Kurashev tied it at 3:34 with a wrist shot after taking the puck from the neutral zone to the net.

During four-on-four play with Macklin Celebrini and Brent Burns in the box, Josh Manson scored with a slap shot at 12:44. Assists went to Nichushkin and MacKinnon.

Brock Nelson scored with a backhand into an empty net at 18:43.

After the NHL returns from the Olympic break, the Sharks will host the Calagry Flames on February 26 at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Blackhawks, Devin Cooley Makes NHL Debut in Net

The Chicago Blackhawks left winger Landon Slaggert (84) gets his shot stopped by the San Jose Sharks goaltender Devin Cooley (left) in the first period at the United Center in Chicago on Sun Mar 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Philipp Kurashev, Ryan Donato, Kevin Korchinski, Joey Anderson and Connor Bedard scored for the Blackhawks. Petr Mrazek made 25 saves for the win. Ryan Carpenter and Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks. Devin Cooley, in his NHL debut, made 26 saves in the loss.

Of playing his first NHL game, Devin Cooley said: “The experience was obviously amazing, first game, that’s something I’ve been working towards my entire life. Really happy that happened. For it to happen for my hometown team that I grew up watching, that’s pretty special.”

Of the rookie goaltender’s performance, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said: “I thought he played well. Made some big saves early I thought. I thought he played well and I feel bad that we weren’t able to bring it to the finish line for him ‘cause I thought he deserved it.”

Ryan Carpenter gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 10:33 of the first period. Carpenter and Alexander Barabanov skated into zone two-on-one. Carpenter passed the puck across but Mrazek followed it. Barabanov then passed the puck back to Carpenter with a bounce off of Mrazek’s pads, giving Carpenter an open net to shoot at. Assists went to Barabanov and Kevin Labanc.

Klim Kostin made it 2-0 at 16:32. Mikael Granlund had the puck behind the net. He passed it up to Kostin who was able to shoot it under the goaltender and a defenseman to score his fifth of the season. Assists went to Granlund and Mario Ferraro.

Philipp Kurashev cut the lead to 2-1 at 14:02 of the second period. Kurashev, Tyler Johnson and Connor Bedard skated into the zone three-on-two. Bedard passed the puck across the ice to Johnson, who centered it as Kurashev went to the net to score.

Ryan Donato tied the game at 10:39 of the third period. Donato scored his tenth of the season with a slap shot from just inside the faceoff circle. Assists went to Jarred Tinordi and Jaycob Megna.

Kevin Korchinski gave the Blackhawks the lead at 11:51 with a wrist shot from the blue line. An assist went to Lukas Reichel.

Joey Anderson made it 4-2 at 12:02. Anderson threw the puck into the blue paint with a backhand shot, it bounced off of Calen Addison’s skate and into the net. An assist went to Alex Vlasic.

Connor Bedard made it 6-2 with an empty net goal in the final second of the game. An assist went to P Kurashev.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at 5:00 PT in Nashville against the Predators.