San Jose Sharks
Giles Scores 1st NHL Goal, But Sharks Lose 3-2
San Jose Sharks hosted the Nashville Predators at SAP Center.
Patrick Giles and Collin Graf scored, but the Sharks lost 3-2.
Period 1
2 in: Dellandrea had Kovalenko in slot, 2-on-1 down-low. Can’t make the pass with touch, Kovalenko can’t handle what’s delivered. That’s the difference between a real third and fourth-liner, such a pass.
4 in: Giles knocks down 6-foot-4 Englund on forecheck.
5 in: Svechkov crosses over Vlasic, first save of the game for Georgiev is a big one.
6 in: Good work by Mukhamadullin to read-and-react to Forsberg speed, cuts him off. Then he pins Marchessault, Celebrini comes up with the puck.
7 in: Kovalenko does a good job of cutting into the high slot…and he passes, turns it over. Would wager coaches would love a shot there, at least go forward with the puck.
Englund 10-9 over Goodrow, not sure what prompted that. But credit to Goodrow for taking on the much-bigger player.
Cole Smith 10-9 over Desharnais, more of a wrestling match than anything. But to paraphrase Glen Powell in “Top Gun”, what is it with these guys? Last game was memorably fight-filled, three fights in four seconds. Cole Smith got Kovalenko from behind a little.
7 left: Good anticipation by Liljegren to intercept that rim. Then great work to kill clear-cut 2-on-1 pass. Strong shift for him.
3 left: Schuldt pass led him into traffic, but Eklund’s got to get that out.
Not a strong San Jose Sharks power play to end, no shots, a lot of slinging around of the puck but nothing dangerous set up.
Period 2
Once again, the San Jose Sharks are keeping up with a mid (but better) team, like to see it.
3 in: Giles good back-check, leads to a counterattack chance. Giles has made a good account of himself again. Had a good rush chance off a Goodrow pass earlier, hopefully he can pot one soon, would be his first NHL goal.
Forsberg goal: What a shot, picked the far corner. Georgiev hasn’t faced a lot, but I think he’s made his share of high-quality saves, and that was just a snipe. But 10th power play goal given up in the last six by the San Jose Sharks.
9 in: Beaut of a Will Smith stretch to Celebrini. Then Mukhamadullin does a determined job against Cole Smith against the boards. Been watching Mukhamadullin and Liljegren close tonight, have liked both.
10 in: Mukhamadullin right on time to close on O’Reilly. Then Grundstrom with a great feed to Ferraro in slot. Fourth line has been Sharks’ best this period.
9 left: Preds’ PK falls asleep, Celebrini hits Toffoli for the clean breakaway. Huge Saros saves.
Goodrow penalty: Grundstrom is willing with his body, the talent is there, but San Jose Sharks stop up the Preds’ exit, Giles does a good job along the wall, Grundstrom gets the puck high…and goes backwards. Goes south when he should go north, unforced turnover. I get the instinct, you see an open man at the point, but that’s not winning hockey, especially when you don’t execute. Get it in deep, go to work, your line’s been doing such a good job of it too. Don’t cosplay like you’re the ’85 Oilers. Goodrow takes a penalty defending, leading to…
Stamkos goal: That’s a goal-scorer. Basically got Georgiev to double-clutch, patience to wait him out. Just one-on-one, Georgiev made the first move, opened himself up.
Looks like ’70s Line got reunited midway through the second period.
Period 3
Giles goal: Phenomenal work on the forecheck by Goodrow, then Grundstrom! Perfect pass to Giles. First NHL goal of Giles’s career! And credit to Grundstrom, who I lambasted last period, talent is more than there for solid third-fourth line forward.
CONGRATS TO PATRICK GILES ON HIS FIRST CAREER NHL GOAL!#TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/doRMEPyYHK
— JD Young (@MyFryHole) March 12, 2025
Graf goal: Again on the forecheck, Wennberg pressure forces an errant Stastney pass to Smith. That’s all Will Smith from that point, patience, suck in Blankenburg toward him, Graf finishes.
New Sharks lines, 70’s Line back, Graf-Wennberg-Smith, Kovalenko-Dellandrea-Kostin, fourth line abides.
Bellows goal: Georgiev’s got to be better there, puckhandling mishap, not aware of the Preds’ forecheck there? That hurts.
7 in: That was wild, did Saros stop that? Celebrini finds Toffoli all alone in slot, looks like Toffoli was forced from the shot he wanted, tried to pass it back to Eklund crashing net.
4 left: Big Georgiev save on Forsberg breakaway, Sharks pressing to tie, lose Forsberg.
1 left: Celebrini comes out on the PK, good coaching move there, try to push offense.
I feel like Askarov would of won that game for us. Ironically though, Georgiev blew the game on a typical Asky mistake, so who knows!
I don’t feel any need to talk shit about Georgiev, and I hope he gets a huge statement win one day. I guess I’d rather see him take these losses than our goalie of the future.
I really want to see them finish strong but an AHL level defense and ECHL level goaltending combined with the inexperience of youth and the veterans are overwhelmed trying to hone them in and the tiniest mistakes are costing them games. I know it’s demoralizing for the players to lose but for fans watching on TV, what looks like 200 fans in attendance and what is amounting to one or two wins every 15 games … This is truly old and kind of embarrassing. I love this team and what they’re building and I believe in it but … ..Grier… Read more »
Crowd reminded me of the Emmy acceptance speech by Tina Fey for 30 Rock where she thanked the dozens and dozens of fans who watched the (at the time) lowly-rated show.
This team is throwing up the white flag. As always once Sharks get back in game Georgiev gives uo a soft goal. Is this guy ever gonna get a win? Change it up coach.
It isn’t just Georgiev. The defense is simply terrible. Outside of Mukhamadullin, I wouldn’t be sad to see any of them leave.
They gave up 17 shots on goal, man. Georgiev is an absolute joke.
I would have to agree. Had a couple strong games against TO and Buff but he’s still a mess. One of the better efforts from the skaters with a ton of chances. More talent and they win that 6-1.
Toffoli should have had at least two, and he’s usually rather money.
I have to disagree. The team is trying hard, just have a lack of talent. Georgiev is a way below average goalie but they don’t have much else better other than Askarov, who is injured and probably will be better getting playoff experience with the Cuda.
It’s two games so I’m not going to read anything into it but Giles has looked very good at 4C which I honestly never would have expected. Let’s hope he can keep it up.
Watching Mukhamadullin’s growth in such a short time has been awesome to see. Smart puck movement, patient passes, sound stick work and using his size are starting to come naturally at the NHL level for him. The offensive flashes are there as well, can’t wait for him to gain confidence and act on instinct in that area. Graf continues to impress as well, such a high IQ and work ethic. Crafty with the puck as well hoping more offense will start to come for him as the puck seems to follow him around. Lastly, Kovalenko is sneaky physical and has… Read more »
he had a shift, might have been his first of the game, where there were about 3-4 solid scoring chances that Graf helped create. More talented linemates and there’s a decent chance its 1-0 Sharks. On the goal he scored, he was playing with moire talented linemates …
Did anyone else notice the broadcast mention how we will probably see Cagnoni up before the year is over? Feel like they wouldn’t say that if they hadn’t heard it. Hopefully that happens. Desharnais has looked really solid defensively but just very little offensive ability. Putting Cagnoni with a big defensively responsible guy like Desharnais could make sense.
Heard it loud and clear.
I’m not exactly sure Cagnoni is going to be able to do what we hope. He’s really small. I think best case, he’s Dan Boyle, and Boyle was slightly bigger. The Sharks never won a Cup with Boyle. I saw Cagnoni play against a heavy Gulls team (Ducks AHL team) and he struggled against some of their guys. Don’t know if I just saw a bad game or what. But it got me a little worried and I’m not penciling him into the lineup. I hope I’m wrong. I really really want to be wrong. IF (and it’s a big… Read more »
Watching Kostin bumblefuck on a line with Smith and Celly was infuriating, glad Warso got that out of his system. But that fourth line was awesome tonight. Lots of energy and in particular Delly and Grundstrom were playing with some heat.
I’m obviously a big Kostin guy but he’s gotta get back to the decision making level he was at prior to his injury when he was more help than hurt. He has good moments mix with catastrophe. Needs to be on the 3rd or 4th line where he can be a mismatch skill wise.
Was just going to say that he is a good 3rd or 4th liner, but the Sharks lack talent up front for now. If Konstin is with the team next year after hopefully an insertion of talent, then he can slot where he can be helpful.
He’s definitely bottom 6. I just don’t know what about his previous showing made Warso say “yeah, he belong with Will and Mack”. We may disagree about him in general but we both agree he doesn’t belong in the top 6.
I think the hope was that Kostin would be able to slot in and provide the same heavy presence that Zetterlund had been doing the last several games. Didn’t happen.
Got Lyft on my phone since light rail folks are on strike (pay them!).
What is the point of pre-booking pickups for a certain time well in advance if the driver who picks it up, also well in advance, is nowhere near you at the appointed time? Both ways. Damn it.
Do you ever comment on topic?
This is a thread about tonight’s game, which the post is also about. Don’t worry about me, bub.
It’s nothing to do hockey. But yeah, I’ll just ignore you from now.
There might be some people here who are are not poor and regularly attend games and use light rail who are also impacted and would be interested in knowing the alternatives suck. You can obviously just move right along.
I will, gladly.
Aw come on dudes don’t fight. 2 of my favorite commenters. I’m not local anymore but the Lyft thing was kinda interesting? Not a huge time suck IMO. 🙂
Curious how long you had to wait, and if Uber is better? I usually park about a mile away and walk to the Tank, the walking helps and parking costs way less that way.
I actually just posted about this below in the ice cream portion, in case you don’t see it there, check that out. No clue if Uber is better, I haven’t used either one before yesterday.
Had a first for me happen tonight. I went to the game alone because my daughter couldn’t make it and why would I inflict this on another person? I have seats on an aisle, so I’m sitting on the end with open seat to my left and aisle on my right. Second period some guy and his chick come and sit with people to my left that they know, and the guys sits next to me in my other seat. I’m a little peeved to not have my space to spread out now with some guy sitting next to me.… Read more »
Sounds like a Larry David skit! 😂 Dude it sounds like you were being a grump, and then you met some random dude, like a stray dog from heaven, who brightened your day by letting you explain hockey to them.
If the building is at 25% capacity They should let people sit wherever they want by the 3rd period. Especially kids
Back in the 90s they did exactly that. During lean years people would give away their extra tickets outside. I used to just go after work and ask for extra tickets then sit where I wanted in the lower bowl. Went to at least 25 games for free one season. I think Odgers was the captain then?
Oh dear god. Mid-90s Sharks? Grim. GRIM.
For dinner I had broccoli and chicken, my kids didn’t eat it of course. Thankfully the game was a late start so I could get them to bed first and watch it by myself. I decided to make some protein ice cream as a snack for the game and reclined on my power reclining sofa, what a treat!
Oh… No one cares, I should just talk about hockey.
I bet you started nodding off by the 2nd intermission thanks that lazy boy
I care. What was the protein ice cream? Is it low sugar?
Absolutely! Made with fairlife milk, protein powder and a few other goodies. Ninja creami for the win.
You guys are funny. It’s ok to add a little humanity to these proceedings. 🙂
My Lyft experience was even worse than expected. The driver was supposed to be like 15 minutes late, but then he gets off the freeway and is screwing around on side streets in Vietnamtown. Finally at like 11:05 he drops it entirely and another guy close by finally picks me up at 11:10. 40 minutes late! I hardly even drink anymore but ended up getting mostly drunk at The Brit waiting. Which, after overindulging on the arena food…it was not a quiet night sleeping. And you can’t leave a bad review for the driver who screwed me over, you can… Read more »
Well, having drinks at The Brit is a way to make a good evening. Cheers!
A drunk girl brushed up against my arm, which counts as action for me.
Wow, so an amazing evening!
I was just poking some fun, it’s a message board, nothing serious.