Notes #41: Besides Top Line, Sharks Have No Bite in 3-2 Loss

SEATTLE — The San Jose Sharks go to Seattle for the first time to take on the Seattle Kraken. Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier scored, but San Jose didn’t get much offensive help elsewhere as they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Kraken.

Period One

Hertl goal: That was all Barabanov. He got underneath Larsson to take puck on forecheck, then intercepted ill-advised Wennberg breakout up middle.

Three in: Kraken find space for two-on-one perhaps because Burns was too aggressive on Seattle stretch pass, but Ferraro does good job to take away pass, leave one on one for Hill.

Five in: Weatherby does good job to win boards battle against Donato after Raska turns it over in NZ.

Eight in: Burns throws a breakout pass up middle to no one, turnover. He’s had an erratic start. But then Barabanov wins battle in NZ, pulls away for partial breakaway. Impressive effort.

Eight left: Good clear by Viel, Sharks needed it, under duress in DZ, Viel’s clear dies against OZ boards. Fantastic. Then another marvelous Barabanov pass to Karlsson right in front all by himself, open net, post. Fantastic find by Meier, cross-slot.

On the other end, Karlsson tries to get away with subtle hold on Gourde, but dinged.

Six left: Effective stick check by Nieto on Donato on kill. Kraken fans boo PP, credit to San Jose Sharks PK.

That last Raska hit in corner hurt Borgen.

Dying seconds, Barabanov hit a little behind by McCann. Both Hertl and Meier took shots at McCann, good to see there. He came up a little uncomfortable.

Period Two

Two in: Outstanding dig and forecheck by Gregor and Couture, Dahlen all alone in front.

Three left: Another outstanding grind effort from Hertl line.

Soucy goal: Sharks got overloaded on one side, they found Soucy on weakside. Cleverly, Soucy waits for Couture to get to man in front, unintentional screen, he picks corner on Hill. San Jose Sharks need to keep it together, they’ve played a very good game up to now.

Six left: Wow, Karlsson caught Kraken napping, Meier was ahead of play. Bad Seattle change. But Grubauer with huge breakaway stop.

Donato goal: How does Burns let Donato beat him to the front like that? But Burns gets away with it because Sharks challenge for offsides correctly. Donato had a little headstart. But Burns needs another level tonight.

But that one is counting: Another one by Soucy. Need a big stop from Hill to keep this game a one-goal. Karlsson puts Cogliano in a bad place, pass that Cogliano can do nothing with. Soucy was on top of him.

Big Sharks kills keep them in the game. Back-to-back kills.

Six left: Guess Vlasic thought Gregor might be there, but not even close. Shoot it MEV.

Raska crushes Giordano, then Gio and Soucy both go after Raska. Raska just taking bombs from Gio as Kraken captain attempting to teach the rook a lesson

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 21, 2022

That’s a nice job by Raska: He drew a penalty on Soucy and got Giordano to “fight” him.

Fantastic puck movement by that top San Jose Sharks power play unit: They hit two posts.

Sometimes feel Merkley’s teammates don’t know what he’s doing on PP. That relationship probably needs some work.

Great shift by Meier to end period: Loved his baseball swing on Hertl shot and rebound. Also had a nice pull-up that threw off Kraken on entry.

Period Three

Karlsson starts with a clever dump-in pass to Hertl, but Grubauer steps in the way.

Two in: Meier does a fantastic job directing that breakout. Coming up center, he points Hertl out on weakside to Barabanov. Lane to lane, Hertl tic tac toes to Meier coming up middle.

Two bobbles by Burns on that PP. Not a strong night for him.

Six left: Bonino has to hit Cogliano with that centering pass. Then other way around, both Megna and Nieto go at Geekie, Jarnkrok all alone in slot. All-around miserable two-way performance from a third line that you expect more from.

Eight left: Well-timed desperation from Merkley, then Raska draws another penalty with a good effort. That line needs more offense, but can’t argue with Raska’s all-out effort.

Broken play: Burns did a nice job getting deep in zone with control, good to see him undeterred by other happenings tonight. Meier does the rest.

Then the third line draws a call after a good forecheck effort. My story was going to be how the bottom-six was letting San Jose Sharks down, especially third line, but I might be on track for a re-write.

Good Gregor pass on breakout to break Kraken PK pressure. Then a too many on Seattle. This is getting ridiculous, must-score spot for Sharks PP.

Barabanov draws a call — by and large, a fantastic return to play for him.