On Saturday the San Jose Sharks hosted the Buffalo Sabres, falling 5-2 on Pride Night at the Tank.
22-year-old defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin made his 2023-2024 season debut as a Shark and logged 19:21 time on the ice.
Selected 20th in the 2020 draft pick by the New Jersey Devils, the Sharks acquired Mukhamadullin as part of the Timo Meier trade.
In a rare occurrence, the Sharks struck first with two goals. The first came from Marc-Edouard Vlasic at 8:06 in the period, assisted by William Eklund and Ty Emberson. Vlasic has just three goals on the season, and four points in 27 games played.
Minutes later Jan Rutta scored and Eklund picked up another assist on the goal. Eklund has three points in the last five games and Rutta has five (two goals, three assists).
The Sabres made it a one goal game when JJ Peterka got the pass from Dylan Cozens and Owen Power.
By 18:01 in the first, the score was 2-2 after Jordan Greenway made a shot. Greenway’s tying goal was assisted by Alex Tuch and Casey Mittlestadt.
While winning 55.1 percent of the face offs, in the remaining 40 minutes, Team Teal was left chasing or defending.
Just 1:36 into the second, Mittlestadt fed Tuch the puck to score and take the lead 3-2.
Early in the third, Peterka scored his second of the game, assisted by Cozens and Jack Quinn.
Cozens scored on an empty net, ensuring the Sharks 5-2 loss.
Buffalo outshot the Sharks 36-25, with the Sabres’ goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopping 23 shots. The Sharks’ Kaapo Kahkonen was in the crease to block 31 shots on net.
In Mukhamadullin’s debut he blocked two shots and logged three shots on goal. While an unfortunate outcome, time will tell if Mukhamadullin will be a fit for the Sharks’ blue line.
Although the Sharks gave up five shots in a row and ended their winning streak, fans did not leave empty-handed. For The Tank’s annual Pride Night on Saturday, the giveaway was a reversible bucket hat.
For the themed night, the Sharks Foundation auctioned off Pride Sharks jerseys designed by artist Arely Cardenas.
The Sharks play the Seattle Kraken and the Anaheim Ducks before the All-Star bye-week break.
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