The San Jose Sharks returned to the SAP Center following their six-game road trip on Tuesday (Dec. 12) to face off against the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets entered the night with a record of 16-8-2 and 34 points, which was enough to be third in the Central Division. The Sharks on the other hand had a record of 8-17-3 and a total of 19 points. They were looking to drag themselves out of last place in the league for the first time this season.
The Sharks got off to a very hot start, outshooting the Jets 12-4 near the halfway mark of the first period. They were sustaining heavy pressure and finally capitalized when Justin Bailey scored his first goal as a member of the Sharks. It was also his first in the NHL since March 10, 2018, when he was a member of the Buffalo Sabres. Bailey also extended his point streak to three games, which is a career-high.
The Sharks got their first power play of the game when Gabriel Vilardi took down Calen Addison in front of the penalty box. However, a William Eklund holding penalty nullified the man advantage after just 44 seconds. The Sharks killed off the abbreviated power play, however, the Jets eventually scored with just over three minutes remaining in the first. Former Shark Brenden Dillon scored on a wrist shot to make it a 1-1 hockey game. The first half of the period was certainly all Sharks, and the second half was all Jets. Heading into the first intermission, the score was tied at one and the shots on goal were even at 15 as well.
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The Sharks entered the second period with four seconds remaining on the penalty kill and swiftly got back to even strength. The Jets kept bringing more pressure, as Mackenzie Blackwood was seeing most of the action to start the second period. The Sharks had a strong scoring chance when Mike Hoffman and Nico Sturm had a give-and-go play, however, it seemed like they made one too many passes and Laurent Brossoit was able to make the stop. From there, the Jets continued to maintain possession in the Sharks zone but the Sharks were able to get in front of quite a few shots to help out their goaltender.
Eklund took a second holding penalty with 9:08 remaining in the period to give the Jets another power play. The Sharks’ penalty kill held strong once again and were able to kill it off with almost no issues. Neal Pionk went to the box for tripping late in the second, giving the Sharks their second man-advantage of the night. Although San Jose didn’t score, they were able to swing momentum in their favor for the remainder of the period and generate some strong scoring chances. The second period ended with the score still even at one and shots slightly in favor of Winnipeg.
The third period started fairly even, as both teams were getting some decent chances. Henry Thrun took a delay of game penalty though, as he shot the puck directly into the netting from the defensive zone. Although the penalty did help Blackwood who had a skate blade come loose during the run of play. The Sharks killed off the penalty, but the Jets continued to control the game for most of the first half of the third period.
The Sharks got their first power play of the period with 6:23 remaining in regulation following a Dylan DeMelo hooking penalty. Eklund scored a one-timer on the power play to give the Sharks their second lead of the night. Jets’ head coach Rick Bowness made a bold decision, as he pulled Brossoit with four minutes remaining in the game. It paid off for them indirectly though, as it led to Mike Hoffman taking a penalty and giving the Jets a late power play. The Sharks were able to kill off the penalty and eventually walk away with a 2-1 win.
Sharks Need to Sustain Pressure
As previously mentioned, the first period was a tale of two halves. The Sharks were strong early, but eventually, the momentum swung in favor of Winnipeg. Although the Sharks have become known for their comebacks in the last couple of weeks, they need to stop putting themselves in a hole to begin with. They easily could’ve been leading 2-0, or even 3-0 early on but Brossoit was holding his own for the Jets. Instead, the Jets were able to turn things around and tie it up before the end of the opening frame. There are going to be ups and downs in every game, but having the opposition take control of the final ten minutes of a period is almost always going to end badly.
The bigger concern is the fact that the Sharks allowed the Jets to keep up that level of pressure to start the second period. Although they were able to fight back a bit at the end, the Jets seemed to dominate the period despite the numbers making it seem fairly even. This trend continued into the third period as well. It almost seemed like they were playing the hockey equivalent of a soccer counter-attacking strategy where they absorb as much defensive pressure as possible and then try to score on a rush the other way.
Building a Stronger Atmosphere
Early in the season, it felt like every night the question was how badly the Sharks would get beaten. Now, they seem like an entirely different team. Over the past few weeks, they’ve proven they can hang with any team in the NHL and in some cases can pull off a miraculous win. They showed their fighting spirit against the Jets as well. Of course, the Jets lost their superstar goal-scorer Kyle Connor to injury recently, which weakened their team a bit, but they’re a very good hockey team regardless. A month ago, it would’ve seemed like a certain loss but instead, the Sharks were able to keep this game competitive for the full 60 minutes despite being outplayed for substantial periods of time which allowed them to walk away victorious.
This doesn’t mean the Sharks suddenly became a very good team. They’re still in the midst of a season where they’ll likely finish closer to the bottom of the league than a playoff spot. With that being said though, they’re playing as a team and they’re not a guaranteed win for whoever their opposition is on any given night. This is key for their player development because as young players like Eklund, Thrun and Fabian Zetterlund continue to develop, they need to be in a positive environment. At some point, things will likely change as the Sharks start selling off pieces near the trade deadline, however, it’s important to get the most out of every game in terms of development. One important aspect of doing that is undoubtedly having a positive locker room atmosphere as often as possible.
Goaltending Duel
Although the Jets went with their backup instead of starting star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, they had a strong performance from Brossoit. The Sharks also had a strong night from Blackwood as they’ve started to expect from him. Both goaltenders were facing heavy pressure at certain points in the game, and Blackwood in particular was forced to make quite a few back-to-back saves. With subpar goaltending from either team, this game could have easily gotten out of hand, however, both goalies were doing whatever it took to keep their team in the mix. Blackwood ended up having to make more saves when all things were said and done, but both goaltenders did a phenomenal job for their respective teams.
Unfortunately for Brossoit, only one goaltender was able to walk out of SAP Center victorious and this time it was Blackwood. Brossoit ended the night with 30 saves on 32 shots, which on most nights would allow a team to walk away with a win, but Blackwood’s 36 saves on 37 shots were just enough to keep the Sharks on top.
Related: Duclair, Hoffman and Granlund Essential to Sharks’ Turnaround
The Sharks and Jets played an entertaining game and ultimately the Sharks were able to walk away with a 2-1 win. They will now head to Arizona where they’ll face the Coyotes for the first of two meetings within the next week and look to continue their recent strong run of play. They’ll return to the SAP Center on Tuesday (Dec. 19) for a short two-game homestand.