On Wednesday the San Jose Sharks finished a rough stretch of road games with a loss against the Colorado Avalanche. Before heading into the Olympic break, the Sharks had a five-game road trip that resulted in only one win.
The Sole Win
Team Teal earned their sole win against the Vancouver Canucks to begin their road trip. The Sharks’ biggest difference maker was their compete in a full 60-minute, 5–2 win. Macklin Celebrini earned first star of the game with his one goal and three assists. On the same line, Will Smith earned second star with one power-play goal and two assists. Unfortunately, the Sharks’ PK was a vulnerability, as both of Vancouver’s goals were scored when Vancouver had the man advantage.
Oilers Game
Two nights later, the Sharks led the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 going into the third period. Rookie Colin Graf opened the scoring for the Sharks just 26 seconds into the game. On Graf’s goal, Celebrini and Smith assisted, with Celebrini earning his 90th career assist.
But a minute into the third, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored a wrist shot assisted by Evan Bouchard and Kasperi Kapanen. It still looked like a game to be won with 4:05 minutes left in the game and the Sharks up 3-1. At 16:55 Connor McDavid made it a one-goal game with a snap shot assisted by Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Two minutes later, Edmonton continued to push, and Bouchard’s slap shot tied the game, with Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm assisting. Once the lead was gone, momentum fully shifted in Edmonton’s favor. In OT, San Jose fell 4-3 to a goal by Zach Hyman, assisted by McDavid and Bouchard.
Despite the loss, Yaroslav Askarov was strong, making 28 saves to keep San Jose in position before the momentum shift.
The Avalanche Loss
Team Teal’s loss to Colorado followed a similar pattern, where the Sharks could have left with a win in hand. While both teams went scoreless through the first twenty, Colorado struck first in the second.
Colorado’s offense ran through Artturi Lehkonen, who scored twice with support from Nichushkin, Makar, and MacKinnon. Avs also capitalized on numerous chances, including a Lehkonen goal created by a William Eklund giveaway.
San Jose responded in the third, tying the game and getting a change in the momentum. Timothy Liljegren’s slap shot opened Team Teal’s scoring, with Alexander Wennberg and John Klingberg logging assists. Philipp Kurashev’s wrister was unassisted, tying the game.
With under ten minutes remaining, the Avs showed why they lead the conference when Josh Manson scored, regaining the lead. His slap shot was assisted again by Nichushkin and MacKinnon.
Brock Nelson’s backhander empty-netter sealed the deal: final score 4-2, Avalanche.
Olympic Break
With the road trip finished, the Sharks head into the break for the XXV Winter Olympic Games. Most of the roster will have a three-week pause from game action, where hopefully they can reset.
Alexander Wennberg will make his debut for Sweden on the Olympic stage, though he previously played at the World Juniors. Macklin Celebrini is the youngest Canadian Olympic player in history, at age nineteen. Meanwhile, Pavol Regenda will be playing for Slovakia, and Philipp Kurashev will be playing for Switzerland.
Team Teal returns to play Feb. 26 at home against the Calgary Flames.
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Featured image courtesy of San Jose Sharks on NHL.com
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