The Sharks had a great start to the game and were certainly controlling the play for the first period. They were creating odd-man rushes and also got the bulk of the scoring chances. That said, Minnesota rebounded as the second period went on and the game evened out.
Devan Dubnyk played quite well and made some really good saves in the loss. That said, that first goal can’t go in, even if he did make up for it later on.
Defensively, the Sharks were pretty decent and didn’t allow as many quality chances as they often do. The quality scoring chances were fairly even and while Dubnyk still had to make some good saves, as stated above, this is two games in a row with a pretty decent defensive effort from the Sharks.
The Sharks also got scoring from their bottom-six as well, which was a good sign. That said, it was a pretty quiet night from some of San Jose’s top forwards.
Despite the loss, it wasn’t necessarily a bad performance from the Sharks. Certain players need to be better and they’ll also need to do a better job capitalizing on chances but this is a game that really could’ve gone either way.
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Here's today's poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
How to do you feel about San Jose's start to the season?