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The San Jose Sharks dropped their first game of the 2023-24 season at home last night, falling 4-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kaapo Kahkonen got the start in goal, while Kevin Labanc, Nikolai Knyzhov and Ty Emberson were the team’s healthy scratches.
The game started with a fight only about three minutes in, as Kyle Burroughs threw a huge hit on Michael Amadio, but had to answer in a scrap with Keegan Kolesar.
The Sharks went up on a power play soon after, but after not being able to capitalize, they found themselves trapped in their own end a bit. Then for their second power play later on (after a slash from Ivan Barbashev), it was a bit of a disaster of a man advantage, barely being able to get out of their own end and giving up far better chances than they got.
Just after Vegas killed off the penalty, William Karlsson drove behind the net with speed and fed a pass over to Michael Amadio, who opened the scoring for Vegas. So while the Sharks looked pretty half-decent for a lot of the period, the brutal power play kind of killed momentum.
However, the Sharks managed to respond before the end of the period, as a puck came out in front of Vegas’ net to Filip Zadina, who spun and put a shot through Logan Thompson to tie the game.
So while the Sharks ended up being outshot 13-6 overall, largely due to a series of chances from the second power play onwards, they got to intermission at 1-1.
San Jose managed to come out with some pressure early in the second period and were the better team for a lot of the frame, though. Matt Benning did take a penalty in the second half of the period, but despite the Sharks killing it off, Vegas started to control the play a little more later on.
Then with under two minutes to go, Nicolas Hague managed to beat Kaapo Kahkonen five-hole off a one-timer, to put the Golden Knights back ahead. Then only a minute later, with 36 seconds remaining, Nicolas Roy came down on an odd-man rush and absolutely ripped a wrist shot past Kahkonen, going off the bar and in to make it a 3-1 game for Vegas out of nowhere.
Things only got worse for the Sharks early in the third period from there. After Jan Rutta went down with an injury (but did remain in the game), Brayden Pachal was left all alone in the Sharks’ end, and put a good shot past Kahkonen for his first NHL goal, extending Vegas’ lead.
The third period flew by after that with very few whistles (and perhaps that’s not the worst thing). The Sharks did start generating some chances in the back half of the period but couldn’t beat Thompson again, and Vegas took the 4-1 win.
I think at times in the loss, the Sharks looked pretty good. Through much of the first period, they were right in the game, and were the better team for stretches. But then there were other points where Vegas really took control of the play, especially near the end of the first period, and end of the second period. At the end of the day though, the Sharks did end up registering only 23 shots (while giving up 32 on Kahkonen), which isn’t going to win many games.
In goal, Kahkonen looked great for most of the first 40 minutes, and had to come up big in the opening frame with some tough saves. But things fell apart a little as the game went on, and he probably should’ve had that five-hole goal from Hague. Kahkonen would’ve had to stand on his head to get the Sharks past regulation, but he was only okay for San Jose in net.
I think some of the positives were the young talent, which should continue to be the case for a lot of the season. Thomas Bordeleau looked really comfortable, helping out defensively and being engaged in pretty much all aspects. William Eklund’s puck control and ability to spin off opponents also adds an element to the Sharks’ offense once they’re set up in the offensive zone.
Meanwhile, it may be a bold move to make this claim so early, but with the way he’s looked with the Sharks from his games last year, the preseason, and last night, Henry Thrun could be one of the most exciting parts of the Sharks’ season if he remains with the team for the year. He’s already San Jose’s most dynamic blue liner and it’s not overly close, in my opinion.
That said, there are some things to work out still. The Eklund-Granlund-Kunin line really struggled as a unit, being outshot 11-1 (according to NaturalStatTrick.com). While Filip Zadina may have had the strongest game of any of the new forwards, I think Granlund had the weakest. He had a hard time hanging onto the puck at times and didn’t add much at all.
Regardless, it’s a long season and the priority should realistically be on the young talent developing into contributing members of the lineup. I think all of Bordeleau, Eklund and Thrun looked pretty good individually and all of them were trying to create chances, not just playing passively.
Another note though: Logan Couture suffered a setback in his recovery, according to head coach David Quinn. So for now, the Sharks will have to continue forward without their captain.
The Sharks will be back in action on Saturday, when they host the Colorado Avalanche. They’re set for what could be a difficult homestand, facing the Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes, then Boston Bruins, but it’ll be a good test to see if they can surprise a little.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Sharks announce 23-man roster 
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