Cooley Loses NHL Debut 5-2, But Sharks Win Celebrini Bowl II

CHICAGO — The San Jose Sharks visit United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks.

It’s Los Gatos native Devin Cooley’s NHL debut — and it’s Celebrini Bowl II!

Ryan Carpenter and Klim Kostin scored, but the San Jose Sharks lost 5-2.

Period 1

9 in: Boy, Cooley is quick. Visually, and I’m not goalie guy, but when Grier says that Nabokov/Speer saw something in him, visually, I see it. Obviously a longshot at this point and his age, but seems like he can be at least better than his career so far. Made some big saves so far. Looks a little wild out there, but there’s talent.

Carpenter goal: Very nice work by a very skilled fourth line. Labanc takes a hit to make a play, Barabanov outskates his check this time around, then Carpenter cleans up the rebound on a 2-on-1.

Ryan Carpenter revenge game: 4 of his 5 goals this year have been against former teams, 2 vs. Hawks, 2 vs. Rangers

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 17, 2024

7 left: Kostin makes a move on entry, then fires it. Misses, but he’s showing something since being here. I wonder if he could stand to shed a little weight, get a little bit quicker.

4 left: Kostin, again, with some good puck protection and distribution. Leads to a really good Granlund to Burroughs chance.

Kostin goal: Kostin roofs it off great Granlund set-up. We expect that of Granlund, but Kostin shows some touch, Mrazek never had a chance.

And in 4 games, Kostin has as many points (2-2-4) as he did in Detroit in 33 games (3-1-4)

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 17, 2024

San Jose Sharks were disappointed with their start last night, credit to them for getting off to a good start today.

Period 2

Really nice pull-up by Granlund on entry, end of kill, hits Sturm crashing the net. Big save.

1 in: Hard diagonal pass by Kostin, intercepted in NZ. Gotta watch that. He did something similar yesterday, and it worked, but that’s not a play you want on the regular from anyone unless it’s 100 percent.

7 in: Thrun attacking down low, has a Grade-A, Granlund line again.

Kurashev goal: Hate to kick a guy when he’s down, but Labanc looks like, on backcheck, he’s the guy evening up a Hawks 3-on-2, both he and MacDonald flash toward Johnson, leaving Kurashev wide-open. Remenda says MacDonald should’ve directed traffic there too, so fair. But I think that’s a read too.

5 left: Same with Barabanov, know he’s down on his luck too, but on entry, tries a bounce pass toward middle, great play if it works, but turnover, 2-on-1, big Cooley save. Forcing offense.

Period 3

5 in: There, long shift, I think Bordeleau needs to get it down farther instead of going for the diagonal area pass, still out, but not too far out.

7 in: I understand Johnson defending Bedard, but Addison didn’t do anything overboard. San Jose Sharks should come out with the power play…but they don’t.

8 in: Don’t like that Kostin off-sides, he should be more aware of Eklund there, I think.

9 left: Eklund turnover on exit, not an impact game for him, Reichel comes back on rush, big save.

Donato goal: Broken play, Burroughs actually deflected the slot pass, but it bounced into where Donato could gather it up. Burroughs had actually made a lot of good plays on that shift.

Korchinski goal: Point shot, but looks like there was a deflection.

Anderson goal: A frustrated Cooley throws the puck out of the net. Bad Thrun pass off San Jose Sharks’ faceoff win.

Bordeleau penalty: I don’t think Bordeleau had to take that, he had help. More stuff to learn from.