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San Jose Sharks

Eklund Scores Again, But Sharks Lose 3-2 in OT

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3 weeks ago

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Credit: Dean Tait/Hockey Shots

The San Jose Sharks welcome the Calgary Flames into SAP Center.

It’s Gilroy native Dustin Wolf’s first NHL start in San Jose. William Eklund and Jacob MacDonald scored, but the Sharks lost 3-2 in OT.

Period 1

3 in: Nikita Okhotiuk seems to have a laugh, as he shown on the scoreboard, a couple howls from fans, but not much else. It’s good to have a sense of humor about this kind of stuff! Not many people here tonight either.

6 in: Good calm exit pass from Hoffman to Sturm.

Eklund goal: Nice work on the rush, Zetterlund was losing time and space, but he got the puck over to Eklund, who beat the puck-watching Pospisil to the slot. San Jose Sharks-like defense there. Beaut backhand, got Wolf moving to one side, Eklund goes high to the other side. Eklund showing an array of scoring shots recently.

Eklund has six goals and five assists in 10 games since he was moved back to wing from center.

9 in: Nice thing about MacDonald as a forward, when he has to cover for a pinching defenseman like Rutta there, nice to have a defenseman back.

8 left: Huge redemption save by Blackwood, he left a big rebound up the middle that Pachdal swooped in on.

Hard diagonal pass from Eklund to Zetterlund, easy entry.

6 left: Graf a little slow closing on Weegar. Not saying it as an effort thing, needs a little pop in his first step.

Pospisil penalty: Addison looks OK after he got boarded.

Addison-Graf-Kostin-Kunin-Hoffman is PP2. Kostin did a nice job on a loose puck in the slot, shrugging off 6-foot-3 Solovyov. No easy feat.

Period 2

1 in: Like that Graf & Kunin give-and-go, then Graf slips it to Kostin for a good chance.

2 in: Bailey sets a smart soft pick high, frees up Addison, but Addison can’t get away from hias check.

MacDonald goal: Hoffman picks off the exit pass, then finds MacDonald, who wires it on the backhand. Nice play by Hoff.

4 in: Rutta got caught being too low in OZ, 2-on-1 the other way. Blackwood bailed out by post. Rutta gets in trouble by being too aggressive at times, I think, and when he’s got to use his straight-line speed to recover. Tough to beat one-on-one down low, but those are a couple limitations.

Andersson goal: That previous sequence starts a long shift for the Kunin line and Rutta. Kostin had a clear-cut, had space, 100 percent you have to clear it that doesn’t get out. Coronato makes a beaut diagonal high to low pass, good stuff, but also a mark of uh, a scrambling defense. Eventually, looks like Andersson catches Graf reaching, and he’s able to claim his own rebound to beat Blackwood. Ugly couple of minutes there. Okhotiuk assist!

8 in: Granlund attacks on the PK, drops it to Kunin, I think you want Kunin to just attack the net there instead of coming out from behind so intent on passing.

9 left: Graf tries to give it back to Vlasic, not an awful idea, but not executed, it’s intercepted. Soft pass. That’s got to be 100 percent execution there.

7 left: Not sure who Greer is trying to hit with that pass, Hoffman picks it up, has a chance. Not the prettiest game tonight.

Kadri goal: Broken play, Kadri ties it.

5 left: Good Bordeleau effort on forecheck to try to take it from Pachdal.

4 left: Kostin attacks the net, draws a penalty. He’s done a real good job of that since the trade, getting calls.

3 left: Thrun has a nice pinch, prevents Flames PK exit, and earns San Jose Sharks power play a couple more chances. He’s been decent as PP1 quarterback as a puck distributor.

1 left: Bailey down low turns around and fires the pass to Ferraro up top. Too much heat. I think he’s got to work on that, too much mustard on his passes.

Graf closes with a beaut set-up, under Andersson’s stick, to an open Bailey in front. Nice feed, Graf has shown to be a little dangerous with time and space. Looks like he lulled Kadri off Bailey, looking high, then fired a bullet for Bailey.

Period 3

9 in: Bordeleau with a chance. Think he’s had a solid game tonight, nothing outstanding, but not every game is going to be a goal. Puck determination still there.

Miromanov penalty: San Jose Sharks with two minutes of possession on that PP, but not enough danger. Flames play a passive PK, that was a part of it. That only potential Grade-A chance was a Granlund pass at the end to Eklund, but the one-timer was heeled.

7 left: Graf gets decked by Soloyvov. Looked a little like a clothesline, good on Kostin to stand up for his teammate.

6 left: Flames shot just hit both posts after Blackwood rebound skittered just a little too far up the middle.

4 left: Kostin entry pass denied by Miromanov, counterattack, Thrun bails Kostin out.

2 left: In a tight spot, Studnicka tries to exit, can’t.

Coleman penalty: “Well, well, well. How the turntables…” Burroughs looks OK.

OT

Bordeleau-Eklund-Zetterlund-Granlund to start on PP.

Eklund sees Weegar pressure coming from behind, fakes him out, breaks Weegar’s ankles. Fans underappreciate that, if this was an NBA game, it would be oohs and ahhs.

Sharks lose, need one more point this season to avoid being the worst team of the cap era, that’s the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings’ .275 Points %. Sharks at .274 now.

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