On Saturday the San Jose Sharks came back from a 3-1 deficit before falling 4-3 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. During what looked like a game heading into OT, Sharks’ defense lapsed and the team was served a stinger.
Early to strike first for the Sharks was Anthony “The Duke” Duclair scoring an unassisted wrister shot at 3:39.
In the first period, Sharks’ goalie Kaapo Kahkonen effectively kept the team competitive with solid saves.
“Kaapo held us in there, kept it a tight game,” said forward Anthony Duclair post-game.
The Blue Jackets’ Johnny Gaudreau had three quality opportunities on a breakaway, in the first alone.
Post-game, head coach David Quinn said, “I thought we were cleaning that area up and tonight was pretty sloppy.”
While the Sharks won nine out of 16 faceoffs in the first period, Columbus took the lead 2-1.
The tying goal came from the Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski assisted by Gaudreau and Jack Roslovic. Sixty-eight seconds later, Columbus struck again with a shot from Kiril Marchenko, assisted by Yegor Chinakhov and Erik Gudbranson.
In the second, the Blue Jackets’ Dmitri Voronkov turned it into a 3-1 lead assisted again by Chinakhov and Gudbranson.
19 seconds later, Team Teal’s “The Duke” brought the Sharks within one, assisted by Fabian Zetterlund and Calen Addison.
Zetterlund scored his own goal late in the period on the power-play, foiling the Blue Jackets’ lead. Zetterlund’s goal logged him two points on the night.
Teammates Addison and Mikael Granlund picked up assists on the slap shot goal. Granlund has one goal and one assist in his last five games.
In the second period, Columbus won 12 of the 22 faceoffs against the Sharks.
The third was an exciting one, with each team getting a power-play opportunity. San Jose penalty kill even got its top percentage since January of 2020, killing three of three.
While the Sharks dominated faceoff wins in the third with 13 compared to Columbus’ seven, slick puck management evaded them.
In a tied game, with 13 seconds remaining, Columbus’ Boone Jenner scored a backhander, assisted by Gaudreau and Ivan Provorov.
Kahkonen made 37 saves, yet the Sharks’ defense could not provide the crucial one to keep the team competitive.
“We’re able to hang around and it’s 3-3 with 13 seconds to go. And we get the puck in their end with 20 seconds to go. It’s just inexcusable that you give up a goal,” said Quinn.
The Sharks defense lapsed and they were outshot 41-31. Although being outshot is nothing new for the Sharks, Columbus had a few too many high-quality scoring chances.
Midway through the second period, the Sharks made changes to the defenseman core on the bench. Jan Rutta and Nikita Okhotiuk were paired up and Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Calen Addison put back together.
Coach Quinn said after the loss, “I just didn’t like what we saw for the first thirty minutes. I probably should have done it sooner.”
Team Teal will look to their home series to get their feet back.
“It’s one of those you gotta learn from and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Duclair.
Sharks take on the 31-17-6 Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. Team Teal has four more games during their homestand before heading to Dallas and Minnesota for a two-game road trip.
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Featured image courtesy of San Jose Sharks on NHL.com
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