The San Jose Sharks fell 7-2 against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, extending a losing streak to four in a row.
San Jose struck first with centerman Nico Sturm scoring at 18:17 assisted by Alexander Barabanov. That gave Team Teal a lead going into the second.
Just 3:29 into the second, the Devils’ Jesper Bratt tied the game with a wrist shot. He was assisted by former Shark Timo Meier and Nico Hischier.
Seconds later, New Jersey’s Jack Hughes went in alone and scored off the wrist shot to take the lead.
Meier almost got a goal against his former team at 7:43, before it was overturned for being offside.
No matter, as the Devils’ Kevin Bahl scored off a huge slapshot assisted by Hischier and Hughes at 13:08. This was Bahl’s first goal of the season.
Team Teal’s Anthony Duclair had a neat two-on-one opportunity in the period but was denied by Devils’ goaltender Nico Daws.
The Sharks went into the final period trailing two and shortly behind shots on net, 29-25.
At 2:41 in the third, Devils’ defenseman Colin Miller whacked a long range wrister through traffic past Kaapo Kahkonen. Hischier and Meier picked up assists.
Another former Shark, and 2012 draft pick, Chris Tierney won the draw to make an assist on Brendan Smith’s slapshot goal. Ondrej Palat also assisted, making the score 5-1 against the Sharks.
Smith’s goal came from the blue line, where he had plenty of room, exposing the Sharks’ lack of pressure. This also marked the third goal from a New Jersey defenseman against the Sharks. In Devils’ franchise history, it was the tenth time three d-men had a goal.
At 6:57 New Jersey’s Dawson Mercer one-timed it to bring their lead to six. Mercer’s slapshot was assisted by Hughes and John Marino.
Marino had nothing but time and space to deliver an opportunity for his Jersey teammates. Meanwhile, the Sharks took the pressure off for six goals in a row.
Hischier, who logged three assists against the Sharks, got his own goal at 7:57 in the third. Bratt and Jonas Siegenthaler grabbed assists.
San Jose managed to get one back when Justin Bailey’s wrister on a bouncing puck made it through Daws. Ryan Carpenter and Henry Thrun assisted on the five-hole goal.
Sadly, that’s all the team could manage. Final score, 7-2. Sharks were outshot 45-31.
During the matchup, goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood suffered an undisclosed injury. Late in the first, Blackwood left the game with backup goalie Kahkonen playing the remainder of the game.
Blackwood made 13 saves before leaving the game. Backup Kahkonen made the remaining 31 saves.
On Wednesday, Blackwood was put on injured reserve though his injury was reportedly “not major.”
The Sharks recalled Magnus Chrona from the Barracuda, their AHL affiliate. Chrona has a 3.51 AA and a save percentage of .89 in 24 AHL appearances.
During the matchup, the team had 17 hits to New Jersey’s 11, but only won 45 percent of the faceoffs. In the first and last periods, the Sharks were dominated on draws. But in the second the team’s were 6-6 on the faceoff.
Team Teal will hit the road against the Dallas Stars on Saturday and the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
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Featured image courtesy of San Jose Sharks on NHL.com
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