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The San Jose Sharks suffered their second straight loss to open the season, falling 2-1 in a shootout to the Colorado Avalanche last night.
Mikael Granlund was out of the lineup after being placed on injured reserve, so Jacob Peterson slotted into the lineup. Meanwhile, Nikolai Knyzhov also replaced Henry Thrun, and the Sharks mixed up the lines as well.
Anthony Duclair moved up to the top line in place of Mike Hoffman, while Hoffman, along with William Eklund played on the wings with Thomas Bordeleau down the middle. Peterson then centered Alexander Barabanov and Luke Kunin, while the fourth line remained in tact. Mackenzie Blackwood also made his regular season Sharks’ debut.
The Sharks managed to open the scoring midway through the opening frame, as Thomas Bordeleau tipped in a point shot from Matt Benning for his first NHL goal. San Jose was basically clinging to the lead through the opening frame, being outshot 16-9 and counting on some big saves from Blackwood (and a couple pucks swept off the goal line) to hang on, but they got to intermission ahead.
The Sharks did end up having some good chances to extend the lead in the second period, notably with an odd-man rush led by Mike Hoffman, a breakaway chance for Luke Kunin and a good chance in-close for Fabian Zetterlund, but couldn't capitalize. Colorado then had the better of their chances late, with Artturi Lehkonen getting a great opportunity from the slot and Logan O’Connor hitting a post. Neither side could strike though, and the Sharks remained up 1-0 through 40 minutes, despite Colorado leading in shots by a wide margin.
Colorado kept pressing though, and Blackwood continued to keep the Sharks ahead, notably sliding over to make a huge save on Cale Makar midway through the frame and another only a minute later on Nathan MacKinnon. However, with only a little over a minute to go, the Sharks couldn’t get the puck out of their end despite opportunities to do so, and Cale Makar managed to put a shot through traffic that Blackwood couldn’t see, tying the game with little time to spare, sending the game to overtime.
San Jose then had a good opportunity to end it in overtime with a power play but couldn’t convert (before taking a penalty themselves later), and the game continued onto a shootout. After none of the first three shooters were able to score, Mikko Ranatanen came for as Colorado's second attempt and beat Blackwood with a well-placed shot, putting all the pressure on the Sharks. Mike Hoffman needed to score, but he was stopped by Alexandar Georgiev, giving the Avalanche the win.
It’s an unfortunate result, and for the second game in a row, the Sharks barely managed to register 20 shots on goal. Mackenzie Blackwood was the story though, stopping 51 of 52 shots in the losing effort. Blackwood gave the Sharks every opportunity to win, and it’s too bad they couldn’t hang on there.
But I think a big thing for the Sharks’ season is looking for a reason to be excited about the team and Blackwood putting together that kind of performance, even if the team wasn’t necessarily great around him, was just that.
It’s just one game, and Blackwood can be inconsistent, but the Sharks clearly brought him in hoping he could possibly be a factor in the coming years. They’ve had zero stability with their goaltending situation since the early Martin Jones years, and this is a great start for the netminder.
Thomas Bordeleau’s first NHL goal remains the secondary story as well, which was great to see. But the Sharks’ offense as a whole has been flat, and 44 total shots across the first two games on route to just a pair of goals is rough. The offseason additions in particular aren’t necessarily providing the impact the team would’ve hoped for.
But while it wasn’t a great result (and really not a great performance from the team as a whole), Blackwood’s individual effort is quite the highlight and provides a bit of a positive spin to the loss.
The Sharks are back in action on Tuesday, as they continue their homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Sharks announce 23-man roster
- Sharks fall 4-1 to Golden Knights in season opener 
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