Sharks Lose Big 4-1 at Disneyland, Win Big 7-3 in Vegas

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks visit the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights in their North American preseason season finales. The Ducks soared to a quick start, and a Logan Couture goal didn’t make much of a difference in a 4-1 loss.

Things went a lot better for the Sharks in Las Vegas, where they topped their bitter rivals 7-3, headlined by a Danil Gushchin hat trick.

Split squad, split result.
Shall we call the night a #sjsharks 8-7 victory?

— Jonathan Becher (@jbecher) October 1, 2022

Period 1

3 in: Terry just made Kniazev look bad, went wide on him, the young D lost his stick.

4 in: Nifty give-and-go between Bordeleau and Nieto.

Not sure if Kniazev (25) touched Vaakanainen (5) before Urho went hard into the boards https://t.co/Y6eUQDrdhi

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 1, 2022

San Jose Sharks are in a tough spot down three goals and we’re not even at intermission, but hey, it’s the preseason, a lot of bubble guys who need to buckle down and show off their wares.

3 left: Eklund turns it over in a 100 of 100 times, puck has to get out situation. San Jose Sharks don’t pay for it, I get what he’s thinking, but you gotta be safe or execute at a high level there, get it out.

Period 2

Ferraro-Svechnikov-Bordeleau-Couture-Labanc to start Sharks power play, Pouliot-Eklund-Bonino-Gregor-Reedy appeared to follow.

Couture scores on PP, Svechnikov and Bordeleau get the assists pic.twitter.com/yhDwwoDcHl

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 1, 2022

8 in: High-skill diagonal stretch pass by Kniazev to winger at opposite blueline. But the Beaulieu scores, gotta see replay, looks like a Shark vacated defending point. Maybe Gregor.

General observation is that it still seems fanciful to give Ferraro PP2 quarterback. Always try to have an open mind going into a new season, but small, tight execution skill plays, not seeing it. Maybe just a bad game, and maybe the value is just trying to stretch Ferraro’s comfort zone in another transition season. But I also don’t know if there are better options for San Jose, if Merkley’s overall game (where is he tonight?) hasn’t grown enough.

Period 3

Raska still has to make plays, he can’t just rely on being a pest. Couple times here to start period, doesn’t do it when he has a chance. The contrast is what Gadjovich apparently doing in Vegas tonight.

6 in: Strong Sharks o-zone possession shift, one of the few tonight. Good work from Eklund, Reedy, Bonino. Reedy did a nice job holding off Strome for most of the way to the net, lost it, but Sharks regained possession. This is where Reedy can flourish, he’s shown decent puck ability in tight tonight.