Mackenzie Blackwood made 44 saves to close out his former group because the San Jose Sharks beat the New Jersey Devils 1-0 on Sunday on the Prudential Middle to begin a four-game highway journey.
Blackwood made 25 saves within the first two intervals however was particularly sensible within the third when he made 19 saves, together with six on a penalty kill after defenseman Mario Ferraro was known as for hooking with 3:32 left in regulation.
Blackwood, who spent the primary 5 seasons of his NHL profession with the Devils, now has 11 profession shutouts. The 44 saves he made are essentially the most in Sharks group historical past in a 1-0 shutout victory.
“It’s pretty cool for me,” mentioned Blackwood, who was drafted by the Devils in 2015 and performed with the group from 2018 to 2023 earlier than he was traded to San Jose. “I spent a lot of time here. I have good relationships with a lot of the guys over in that room. They’re amazing people. I’m really fortunate that I got to come into the league with such special people, and it was a treat for me to get started there.
“It’s pretty fun tonight to be able to do that.”
Nico Sturm scored the sport’s solely objective for the Sharks (5-9-2), who gained for the fifth time within the final seven video games.
“I think the games that we’ve won this year, we played mostly very simple,” Sturm mentioned. “With the roster makeup that we have, that’s how we’ve got to play.”
Sturm was credited for his third objective of the season on the 16:21 mark of the primary interval.
After a robust forecheck, Sturm took management of the puck behind the Devils and backhanded a move meant for Carl Grundstrom towards the entrance. However the puck went off the skate of ex-Shark Timo Meier and previous goalie Jake Allen for a 1-0 San Jose lead.
The Sharks thought that they had taken a 2-0 lead when Fabian Zetterlund, on a second effort amid a scramble in entrance of the Devils’ web, dove to chip the puck over the objective line. However after initially ruling the objective to be good, on-ice officers decided that Zetterlund illegally contacted Allen’s pad earlier than the objective.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky thought of difficult the officers’ name however decided it wasn’t definitely worth the threat. If the problem had been unsuccessful, the Sharks would have been assessed a delay-of-game penalty.
“I’m kind of a little bit lost for words because I think if you call it on the ice, then (the Devils) should have to challenge it,” Warsofsky mentioned. “We thought about it. It was a tough one.”
Blackwood, who was traded by the Devils to the Sharks on June 27, 2023, for a 2023 sixth-round draft choose, was beginning towards his former group for the second time.
Blackwood confronted New Jersey as soon as final season, on Feb. 27 at SAP Middle, however an damage compelled him to depart the sport after simply 17 minutes. Kaapo Kähkönen gave seven objectives on 31 pictures to the Devils in aid because the Sharks went onto a 7-2 loss.
Blackwood now has a 3-4-2 file, a 3.10 objectives towards common, and a .910 save proportion. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent within the last 12 months of his two-year contract, which he signed with San Jose on July 1, 2023.
“He was outstanding, probably the best I’ve seen him play,” Warsofsky mentioned of Blackwood. “You could tell he was dialed in, focused, and tracking pucks really well.”
The Sharks got here into Sunday with a 1-5-1 file away from house. Their solely highway victory was a dramatic 5-4 additional time win over Utah on Oct. 28. They erased a three-goal deficit within the last 5 minutes of the third interval earlier than Alexander Wennberg scored within the further session.
SMITH SITS: Rookie heart Will Smith was given one other growth day Sunday, his fourth in 16 video games this season. Smith additionally didn’t gown for highway video games final month towards the Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, and the Utah Hockey Membership.
The Sharks at the moment are 2-2-0 in video games with out Smith, who has two objectives and an help in 12 video games as a rookie. Smith has not performed in video games on back-to-back days but this season, a pattern that can proceed Monday when Smith is predicted again within the lineup because the Sharks play the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Sharks are giving Smith and fellow rookie centerman Macklin Celebrini intermittent ‘development days’ by at the very least the primary half of the season, making an attempt to assist each gamers modify to the hectic journey and taking part in schedules of their first NHL seasons.
Wennberg changed Smith because the Sharks’ third-line heart for Sunday’s recreation, with Barclay Goodrow and Luke Kunin on the wings.
Celebrini centered a line with Ty Dellandrea and Tyler Toffoli on the wings, and the Sharks reunited the “Lund Line” for Sunday, with heart Mikael Granlund taking part in with William Eklund and Zetterlund.
Eklund had a season-low 15:20 in ice time within the Sharks’ 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky mentioned after the loss that he wanted extra from Eklund, who has one help in his final 4 video games.
Eklund, Zetterlund, and Granlund grew to become the Sharks’ high forwards towards the tip of final season, mixed for 58 factors over the ultimate 24 video games in March and April.
WALMAN STILL OUT: Defenseman Jake Walman practiced Saturday however missed his third straight recreation Sunday, and the second straight he’s missed due to an upper-body damage. Walman leads all Sharks defensemen with 9 factors in 13 video games.
After Monday, the Sharks end their highway journey with video games towards the New York Rangers on Thursday and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Initially Revealed: November 10, 2024 at 6:37 PM PST
