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The San Jose Sharks fell to the Anaheim Ducks in the first game of their back-to-back set last night, losing 5-4 in overtime.
San Jose looked great early on coming off the long break between games and only 38 seconds in, the Sharks had an odd-man rush, where Alexander Barabanov took the puck to the net and Matt Nieto was there to bury the rebound. The Sharks were all over the Ducks early, putting nearly 10 shots on goal just in the first five minutes. Then as San Jose continued to dominate, Erik Karlsson just put a shot on net from the point and it was deflected in by Steven Lorentz, making it a 2-0 game.
However, Marc-Edouard Vlasic ended up just throwing a puck away right to an opponent in his own end soon after and the Ducks capitalized, with Troy Zegras scoring off a pass from John Klingberg. The Sharks then got into penalty trouble, first with a penalty to Tomas Hertl that almost cost them, then a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Steven Lorentz. On the second Ducks power play, Mason McTavish put a nice pass over to Ryan Strome for a tip-in, and just like that, the Sharks’ lead was gone. San Jose did have a power play opportunity of their own later but couldn’t convert, and the game remained tied through 20 minutes.
The Sharks completely outplayed Anaheim in the first half of the second period though and midway through the frame, Kevin Labanc just threw the puck on net and it was tipped in by Timo Meier. Mason McTavish did tie the game for the Ducks soon after though, as a wild dump-in took a bounce and popped right to the front of the net, catching Kahkonen out of position for McTavish to score.
Only 14 seconds later though, Kevin Labanc one-timed a shot that was once again tipped in by Meier, putting the Sharks back ahead. The Ducks came dangerously close to tying it right back up soon after, but Kahkonen made a massive glove save on John Klingberg to keep the Sharks ahead.
While the Sharks did a fairly good job defending the lead through much of the third period though, Marc-Edouard Vlasic turned the puck over in his own end again and this time, Mason McTavish beat Kahkonen with a nice shot to tie the game. Then after an unsuccessful challenge for offside, the Sharks were assessed a penalty, but managed to hold off the Ducks. So despite San Jose outshooting Anaheim 41-28 in regulation, the game continued to overtime.
In the extra frame, Tomas Hertl lost the puck to Mason McTavish in the neutral zone and a rush went back the other way, with Troy Terry feeding John Klingberg, who scored to win it for the Ducks.
You can’t help but feel like this was one the Sharks let slip away, which is just kind of a theme this season. They had a great start to the game, but lost momentum after a first period fight between Sam Carrick and Jonah Gadjovich. Regardless though, they still went on to outshoot the Ducks badly, but some costly turnovers made the difference.
Erik Karlsson’s point streak did continue though, reaching 14 games, and he’s now three games away from tying the record for longest assist streak by a defenseman in NHL history. It also came as no surprise that Karlsson was announced as the Sharks’ representative for the NHL All-Star game.
Meanwhile, the Sharks also claimed forward Mikey Eyssimont off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets yesterday. Eyssimont is 26 years old and played 19 NHL games with the Winnipeg Jets this season, managing a goal and five points. Given the kinds of names we’ve seen on waivers recently in Eeli Tolvanen and Jakub Vrana, I’m not sure why this was the player the Sharks went after.
The Sharks will be back in action tonight, as they face a much tougher task against the Boston Bruins.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Sharks overcome two-goal deficit to defeat Blackhawks
Sharks reportedly trying to accommodate Ryan Merkley's trade request 
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