The San Jose Sharks have a three-game winning streak going since the long-awaited return of captain Logan Couture. Between Couture and Nico Sturm’s return, San Jose has seen a shift in the tide in the last three.
In League rankings, the Sharks sit at no. 32, just three points behind the Anaheim Ducks who they bested on Jan. 20 to begin their victory streak.
The team’s second win was against a team that sits mid-pack, the Los Angeles Kings. Ranked at no. 14 with 53 points in 45 games played, the competitive Kings have a 22-14-9 record for the season.
On Tuesday the Sharks rallied past the New York Rangers in overtime for a 3-2 win. While the Rags are no. 8 in the League with a 29-15-3 record, in their last ten games they are 3-5-2.
In the first, the Rags’ Adam Fox opened up the scoring with assists from Alex Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck.
Early in the second, New York’s Artemi Panarin scored with Fox and K’Andre Miller picking up the assists.
Team Teal went 40 minutes without a goal in the game.
The Sharks finally caught a break when recently returned Sturm scored an unassisted goal at 2:19 in the third. Sturm has three points in the last three victory games.
Minutes later, Ryan Carpenter tied the game 2-2 with Jan Rutta and Filip Zadina assisting. Carpenter is also on a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists) in the last four games for the Sharks.
With the remaining 15 minutes of the third, each team was held at bay and the game went into bonus hockey.
Alternate captain Tomas Hertl earned the first star of the game with his overtime game winner at 1:29. With some nifty stickhandling from Alexander Barabanov, the winger fed a pass to Rutta and Rutta to Hertl for the game-winner at home.
Hertl is another Shark on a point streak with two goals and two assists in the last three wins.
Final score, 3-2, Sharks.
Like many of the Sharks’ wins this season, the game saw them outshot at 31-22. The Rangers won 60.3 percent of faceoffs compared to the Sharks’ 39.7 percentage.
After 34 games with goals kept under two for the team, returns to the offensive lineup have taken immediate effect. In their last three wins, the Sharks have more goals than in their first 11 games of the season.
On Thursday the Sharks recalled defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin from the San Jose Barracuda. The 22-year-old has 26 points in 39 games (five goals, 21 assists!) for the season with the AHL. Yet to debut with the Sharks, the offensive d-man could be a great blueliner for the team.
The Sharks have two more games at home against the Buffalo Sabres and the Seattle Kraken. They take on the Anaheim Ducks for the third time this season before the All-Star and bye-week break from Jan. 28-Feb. 10.
You can “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on X for more sports articles like this one.
Featured image courtesy of San Jose Sharks on X.com
“From Our Haus to Yours”
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
