SAN JOSE – There’s no escaping from the truth that the San Jose Sharks would possibly end with the NHL’s worst file for the second straight season.
If that’s the case, they will not less than take solace within the manufacturing of a few of their youthful gamers.
Collin Graf had his first two-goal recreation within the NHL and Will Smith had one other two-point recreation because the last-place Sharks beat the Thirty first-place Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Thursday earlier than an introduced crowd of 13,546 at SAP Middle.
Graf’s second purpose on the 10:17 mark of the second interval proved to be the game-winner.
Towards the tail finish of a Sharks energy play, Smith, stationed close to the faceoff dot, tried to one-time a cross from Shakir Mukhamadullin however didn’t get all of it because the puck slid towards the Blackhawks’ internet. Graf was there to tip it in for his third purpose in two video games and fourth of the yr.
Tyler Toffoli scored an empty-net purpose with 32.1 seconds left to seal the win for San Jose. Earlier than that, rookies had scored the final seven Sharks targets, a group file, during the last three video games.
Together with Graf’s three, Smith has two and Nikolai Kovalenko and Patrick Giles every have one.
Smith scored within the first interval on a one-timer off a cross from Macklin Celebrini. Smith now has 13 targets on the season, shifting him into third place in that class amongst all rookies, behind solely Celebrini and Philadelphia Flyers winger Matvei Michkov.
Making his sixth straight begin, goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves because the Sharks snapped a three-game dropping streak and improved their file on this eight-game homestand to 1-2-0.
The Sharks now have 45 factors, 4 fewer than the Blackhawks, and have 15 video games left, beginning with Saturday’s matinee at dwelling towards Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Chicago has 16 video games left.
If the Sharks do end thirty second this season, they may once more have a 25.5% probability of profitable the draft lottery, to be held someday in the course of the playoffs. The Sharks gained the lottery final season and drafted Celebrini, now a cornerstone of the group.
The Sharks coaches and gamers usually are not involved about draft picks proper now. They simply need to end what’s left of the season as robust as doable, letting the scouts and higher administration fear concerning the draft.
“Obviously, we want to win every game we play. That’s what this sport is all about,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky stated earlier than Thursday’s recreation.
“But the biggest thing that I’ve said all year is we want to be a team that competes every single night, and our process will take care of the results. You don’t just go into the game and say, ‘We’re going to win the game.’ You can’t control that. We can control our attitudes, our energy, how hard we compete, how quickly we’re picking up our concepts.
“I think the biggest thing is, how do we want to feel at the end of these 16 games? Would we want to keep the momentum going to the future looking pretty bright, or do we want to restart this all process all over again in training camp? So that’s what we have to kind of answer.”
Initially Revealed: March 13, 2025 at 10:12 PM PDT
