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The San Jose Sharks picked up a win in their first game of 2023, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 last night.
Scott Harrington came into the lineup for the Sharks after Radim Simek was injured in the first half of the back-to-back against the Dallas Stars on Saturday, while Kaapo Kahkonen got the start.
The Sharks opened the game really well, getting a flurry of good chances against Chicago early on, registering about 10 shots before the Blackhawks could even manage their first. San Jose did end up with a power play midway through the frame but couldn’t get a ton going on it and once they couldn’t convert, Patrick Kane had a clear breakaway, but was stopped by Kahkonen. Overall though, it was a strong opening frame, with San Jose outshooting Chicago 13-6.
San Jose then had an early power play in the second period off a too many men penalty for Chicago, but after they didn’t get much going again, the Blackhawks struck when the Sharks couldn’t clear puck out of their end, off a goal from Patrick Kane. Then later in the frame, Andreas Athanasiou picked off a pass in his own end and managed to lead a rush the other way, finding Sam Lafferty with a cross-crease pass to make it a 2-0 game.
Despite being outplayed through much of the frame though, the Sharks did end up getting one back under two minutes later, as Jonah Gadjovich managed to lift a pick over Petr Mrazek during a scramble in front. Then only 41 seconds later, Matt Benning found Marc-Edouard Vlasic alone with a great pass, and Vlasic was able to direct the puck in. While it was initially called off, it was deemed a good goal after a review and all of a sudden, the game was tied.
San Jose wasn’t done there, and a few minutes later, Alexander Barabanov went to the backhand and took the puck to the net, beating Mrazek. With three goals in about three minutes at the end of the second period, San Jose was up 3-2.
The Sharks continued to build to their lead in the third period, as Mrazek couldn’t hang onto a point shot and Timo Meier was there to bury a rebound. San Jose did follow that up with some penalties (both to Tomas Hertl) but after a couple successful kills, Evgeny Svechnikov buried a rebound in close, making it a three-goal lead. San Jose held on for the 5-2 win from there.
Overall, this was a strong game for the Sharks. They came out with a great start in the first period and while they kind of took the first part of the second period off, they fought back from a two-goal deficit to get the win.
It was kind of an interesting situation, where the Sharks were all over Chicago in the first frame but just couldn’t seem to capitalize, only to then get their three goals near the end of the second, after nowhere near as good of a period. Regardless, they outshot Chicago 28-22 overall and snapped their three-game losing skid, doing it in the second half of a road back-to-back, nonetheless.
With Erik Karlsson’s two assists, he also extended his point streak to 13 games, breaking San Jose’s franchise record. He’s scored 21 points over the streak.
This also marked Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s 1200th NHL game. While he hasn’t necessarily been the same player through much of the past few years, there’s no denying the impact he’s had with the franchise throughout his career and it was nice to see him pick up a goal in the win.
It’s a much-needed win for the Sharks, after putting together some competitive games recently but just not being able to finish the job.
San Jose will now have a long break until Friday, when they face the Anaheim Ducks.
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Sharks fall to Stars for third loss in a row 
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