San Jose Sharks Fall Short Against Montreal Canadiens

The San Jose Sharks dropped yet another close game, falling 4-3 to the Montreal Canadiens after a third-period collapse. Team Teal has now lost eight of its last nine games, with a 15-34-6 record.

New Look on the Blue Line

With Cody Ceci and Mikael Granlund traded to the Dallas Stars, the Sharks rolled out new defensive pairings. Mario Ferraro logged 22:28 of ice time, often paired with Henry Thrun or Jack Thompson. Ferraro and Thrun were the only defenseman finishing +1. Jake Walman remained the team’s workhorse, leading all skaters with 25:34.

The Sharks recalled defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin and forwards Andrew Poturalski and Collin Graf from the San Jose Barracuda (AHL). Poturalski, a near point-per-game player in the AHL, played in just his seventh NHL game.

Opening Period and Special Teams

San Jose opened the scoring on the power play. Juraj Slafkovsky slashed Tyler Toffoli, sending the Sharks to the man advantage. Macklin Celebrini got a slap shot past Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault, with Toffoli and William Eklund picking up assists.

Celebrini, however, took a penalty minutes later, forcing the Sharks to kill off a Canadiens power play. Sharks closed the first up 1-0.

Montreal’s Response and Graf’s First Goal

Less than a minute into the second period, Cole Caufield beat Alexandar Georgiev with a snapper, tying the game 1-1. Rookie Lane Hutson picked up an assist, marking his 40th point of the season. This puts Hutson just one point ahead of Celebrini in the Calder Trophy race.

The Habs took the lead a few minutes later when Alex Newhook blasted a slap shot past Georgiev. Alexandre Carrier and Kirby Dach earned assists.

Graf responded in a big way. In his 18th NHL game, the 22-year-old scored his first career goal, a glove-side wrist shot. Veteran Barclay Goodrow assisted in the setup.

San Jose had another power play chance after Newhook took an interference penalty, but they failed to generate much offense. A late high-sticking penalty on Carl Grundstrom gave the Canadiens a four-minute power play to close the period.

Third Period Collapse

The carryover power play for Montreal proved costly to the Sharks. Brendan Gallagher capitalized, deflecting a puck past Georgiev after Walman nearly broke up the play. Walman managed to get his stick on it, but it wasn’t enough. Dach and Newhook assisted, giving Montreal a 3-2 lead.

Midway through the third, the Sharks got another power play when Arber Xhekaj was whistled for holding Fabian Zetterlund. Toffoli made the most of it, scoring a backhand goal past Montembeault. Celebrini and Walman assisted.

Late in the third, the decisive moment came. Even though the Sharks were on a power play, Andrew Poturalski had pressure on the blue line. Jake Evans and Joel Armia broke out shorthanded, and Armia beat Georgiev for the game-winning goal.

The Sharks weren’t outplayed, outshot or out-chanced—but they still found a way to lose. Team Teal closed the game outshooting Montreal 30-20 and out-blocking them 23-21. Unfortunately, another third-period breakdown cost them the game.

Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky told the press post game, “I liked our effort, I thought our guys competed. We skated, did some things that we’ve talked about the last couple days, just sucks getting the result.”

The Four Nations Face-Off is scheduled to take place on February 12–20, 2025 in Montreal and Boston. With the departure of Mikael Granlund, the San Jose Sharks have no team representatives in the tournament.

Sharks have two more games in their homestand before the two-week break for the event.

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Featured image courtesy of San Jose Sharks on NHL.com  

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