Unhealthy issues normally occur to the San Jose Sharks once they’re not transferring their ft.
It will get even worse once they solely handle a handful of pictures on internet.
The Sharks had been a step behind the Columbus Blue Jackets all through the primary interval on Thursday, then had been outshot 12-2 within the second interval in what grew to become a 4-1 loss at Nationwide Area.
Tyler Toffoli scored the lone objective for the Sharks, who allowed first-period objectives to Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson and by no means absolutely recovered as they misplaced for the fourth time in 5 video games. The Sharks managed simply 19 pictures on objective, matching a season-low.
Goalie Alexandar Georgiev additionally allowed a objective to James van Riemsdyk within the second interval however nonetheless may need been the Sharks’ finest participant as he completed with 30 saves. In his final three video games earlier than Thursday, Georgiev was 1-2-0 with a .916 save share.
Van Riemsdyk added an empty netter with 2:01 left in regulation time to spherical out the scoring.
Toffoli, Nico Sturm, William Ekland, and Macklin Celebrini all had high quality probabilities to attain within the first two durations, however the Sharks, regardless of three power-play probabilities, had been held to 2 objectives or much less for the seventh time within the final 9 video games. Their highway journey continues on Saturday in opposition to the New York Islanders.
The Sharks had been down 2-0 after the primary interval following a pair of miscues that led to Blue Jackets’ objectives.
With the puck contained in the Columbus zone, a shot try by Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta was blocked by Zach Werenski, who raced up the ice with the puck, carried it into the Sharks’ zone, and despatched it over to Fantilli, who beat Georgiev for his eleventh objective of the season on the 12:11 mark.
Simply 4:06 later, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro, deep in his zone, received a puck battle with Johnson earlier than he carried it behind his personal internet. However Ferraro couldn’t join on a go try with protection companion Timothy Liljegren. Columbus ahead Sean Kuraly picked up the unfastened puck and located Johnson, whose shot beat Georgiev for his twelfth objective.
It marked the second straight recreation the Sharks had been outplayed and outskated within the first interval. On Tuesday in Detroit, the Sharks had been outshot 12-6 however nonetheless held a 2-0 lead. Thursday, the Sharks had been outshot 13-6, whereas Columbus held a 25-11 edge in shot makes an attempt.
Columbus made it 3-0 on the 6:37 mark of the second interval, as a Damon Severson shot from simply contained in the blue line was tipped in entrance of the online by James van Riemsdyk previous Georgiev.
The Sharks loss spoiled a milestone night time for defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who performed in his 1,three hundredth NHL recreation. Vlasic is simply the twenty first defenseman in NHL historical past to play in a minimum of 1,300 video games.
Vlasic, 37, may have reached this milestone earlier than Thursday. Together with the league going by way of a piece stoppage and a pandemic, Vlasic had his share of accidents, together with one which saved him out of the primary half of this season, and was a wholesome scratch over 20 instances final season.
Nonetheless, Vlasic wouldn’t be right here if he had not proven that he may play within the NHL at 19.
Vlasic, a second-round choice by the Sharks in 2005, made his NHL debut on Oct. 6, 2006, at what was then HP Pavilion in San Jose. He had 20:54 of ice time because the Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 in time beyond regulation on a objective by Curtis Brown.
Vlasic mentioned he knew then that he may play at this degree.
“I was playing on the top pair, I think it was with (Scott) Hannan maybe. I was playing on the right side, too,” Vlasic recalled earlier this month. “We were playing St Louis, I get on the ice and I’m playing against Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin and shutting them down in my first game. I believe we won in overtime.
“I was sitting in my car after the game, and I was like, ‘OK, I can play in this league.’ Right away, first game, I’m playing against two guys that I watched growing up, two guys that are huge, two guys that in 2006 you can probably get away with a lot more than you can now.”
Vlasic performed 81 video games that yr.
“The more games I play, the more fun I have,” Vlasic mentioned of reaching the milestone. “It just means I’ve been doing what I love for a very long time and I’m fortunate to do that. And what I think is cool is not just playing 1,300 games but doing it with one team, and hopefully a lot more.
“Obviously, not another 1,000, but the rest of the year, next year. So, I feel privileged to say I played that many games with one team.”
Initially Revealed: January 16, 2025 at 6:31 PM PST
