San Jose Sharks
Sharks Blow It, Lose 2-1 in Last Minute to Utah
The San Jose Sharks visit Delta Center to take on Utah Hockey Club.
Fabian Zetterlund scored, but the Sharks gave up a point, giving up the game-winner with minutes left in a 2-1 loss.
Period 1
Just a thought about asking Stenlund to fight, posted in the comments earlier for another story, revised here: “Hockey code” might be antiquated, but I asked two former NHL players about this sentence before I published it: “We’ll see if Stenlund will dance to the hockey code on Friday.”
I thought that was the “code” but I wanted to double-check with the guys who lived it.
One player is fairly recently-retired, and both agreed that’s indeed the code. They asked Stenlund to fight last game, it was a close one, fine, you get him declining. The Sharks didn’t want the instigator either. If they ask today early though, he should go, and that should finish it, the conflict is over.
Old school, if Stenlund doesn’t fight today, he opens his teammates to repercussions. That loses Stenlund respect in his own room. I’m not endorsing that, by the way, but I get it. I’m not sure it’ll get that far with the Sharks. They don’t have a rat player, I’m not talking about an enforcer, who doesn’t mind doing the dirty stuff, not that I see.
But like it or not, that’s how things were handled in the recent past, and it’s still here today.
Zetterlund goal: Granlund OZ faceoff win, good bounces, everybody in the right place.
3 in: Whoa, San Jose Sharks luck out. Keller slips notice in front, that can’t happen, he’s all by himself with an open net. Keller can’t corral.
7 left: Bjugstad all by himself on rush, looks like Goodrow doesn’t cover for his pinching defenseman Mukahamadullin. A little bit of a Hockey 101 mistake there, Georgiev bails him out.
5 left: Celebrini tries to go vertical, Smith stretch, intercepted. While I get and respect the idea, I don’t love that there, Sharks have been on their heels for a bit, that turnover there leads to more of that, almost two minutes of Utah rolling around the zone. Time and place, I think.
4 left: Sharks’ forecheck, the Lund Line, helps restore order. Eklund has a chance in the slot.
3 left: Wennberg 2-on-1 chance, big Vejmelka save. Another Graf breakout chip pass off the wall, the recent Celebrini rush goal was off that too.
Mukhamadullin just came across the blueline to deny the I think Kerfoot exit. Length and speed, like. Forces a dump-out instead of a skate-out.
1 left: Georgiev bailed out by post, his giveaway leads to Maccelli Grade-A.
Utah 20-11 5-on-5 shot attempts, per Natural Stat Trick. Chances are close. Gotta watch the giveaways, I think, in NZ and high in OZ.
Period 2
4 in: Spin-o-rama by Mukhamadullin on blueline, shakes the guy trying to close. I’ve liked his aggressiveness tonight.
Schmaltz goal: Off a Toffoli Grade-A, great Celebrini pass into slot, huge save. But rebound there, Sharks get caught behind on Utah 3-on-2 counterattack. Then, Utah just rolls around the zone, nobody kills a play and puts pressure on circling Utah. Maybe love a save there too, it’s a clear one-on-one situation, but you also can’t let your opponent just buzz around like that, an all too common San Jose Sharks problem in recent years.
Hey Nick DeSimone, just chatted with him in San Jose when he came with the New Jersey Devils, got an assist. Good for the old-school Barracuda defenseman. Credit to him for making a good career for himself.
Mukhamadullin-Graf-Zetterlund-Wennberg-Eklund is #SJSharks first power play unit sent over the boards. They had success last game.
Liljegren-Celebrini-Granlund-Toffoli-Smith follow.
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 11, 2025
9 in: Georgiev bails Celebrini out. The 18-year-old can’t do that there, tired, end of power play, tries to make a move into the middle of the slot high. Turnover, that leads to Utah odd-man rush.
8 left: Graf NZ turnover, something to learn from, but like his effort coming back.
6 left: Good job by Dellandrea to compete, not let Bjugstad shake him on the cycle. Then Wennberg, cool as ever, picks up the puck and is patient before exit. That’s the kind of shift, little things, but that’s why Grier added guys like that, legit NHL players who wouldn’t get dummied on the cycle or throw the puck away. A mature grind shift.
2 left: Kunin needs to be a little more alert there. Sharks fish out puck from long but fruitless Utah possession. Kunin has it, forecheck on him, just gives it away. Utah making it hard for San Jose to mount much attack. Granted, Sharks defending decently too, though they’ve been looser than Utah.
Period 3
3 in: Huge save by Georgiev on Keller who got loose.
No-goal: Rutta bailed out by the coach’s challenge. He actually made a good defensive play, switch with Mukhamadullin on Utah counterattack, but Rutta, trying to skate it out, doesn’t feel Cooley right behind him. Credit to Cooley for the effort, he creates turnover. But that’s all-day goaltender interference, Schmaltz cruises through the blue paint. Sharks need to mount some offense.
4 in: Georgiev header save!
Eklund dump-in/shot at 8:49 of third period is San Jose Sharks’ first shot since Will Smith on the power play 8:56 into the second period. So almost a full 20-minute period without a shot for the Sharks.
8 left: Georgiev takes away the pass there on a Utah 2-on-0, that might’ve been the defensive play of the game.
Goodrow and Ferraro have a dangerous rush, finally some shots. Then I like Granlund, off to the side, Sharks trying to attack, some OZ possession finally, he takes a bad angle shot, I think that’s a good read of the situation by Granlund. Led to nothing, but I like the idea.
2 left: Sharks still have to learn how to play in these tight games. You can’t leave a man by himself there, Thrun attacks the passer, no support behind him.
Hayton goal: OZ faceoff goal off the awful shift after where O’Brien was all alone. Georgiev deserves better than that.
1 left: Telegraphed pass by Smith on PP. Too easy an interception, kills 15 seconds on PP. That’s killer with just 55 seconds of power play left in the game. Reminds me of Kobe Bryant’s playoff airballs as a teenager, if you’re an NBA fan. Good news, Kobe learned.
Maybe it’s the Homer in me but that was a blatant pick on the GWG. It happens all game, but dude went out of his way to hold up his man. Granlund would have been in a fine area had his support not been interfered with.
Eklund played with great pace and quickness. Mack plays with the good pace with the puck but he’s pretty bad away from it in the D zone along with everyone else, they’re spacing, awareness and pursuit of the puck in the D zone needs to be cleaned up if we’re going to win the cup one day.
I get Kunin being put on the line with Celebrini and Smith for added protection based on the last game against Utah, but man does it make a big difference in the production of that line offensively. Would have liked to see later in the game as the team was searching for any sort of offensive jump to throw Graf back on that line as he looked to be the missing piece that helped glue that line together the past few games. Hopefully the coaching staff will be able to reset he lines tomorrow and go back to some of… Read more »
Mack and smith are a totally liability in the D zone did you ever think they just need a guy on they’re line that has some awareness in D zone coverage? The centers job in the d zone is to support the D below the circles and root out pucks and drive the forecheck behind the net. Mack needs to work on his 200 game big time. Smith is just a floating body out there unfortunately at this point.
Sure I understand your point and do not totally disagree with that, but I think my point was specifically later in the game when it’s a 1-1 game and your team has 11 shots on goal and your looking for someone outside the Lund line to generate any sort of offense, I would have liked to see that line put back together just to see if you could get a second line to produce something. I understand there is a potential defensive risk to putting that line out there.
Put away the tin foil hats.
Exactly what I predicted 20-12 games ago without sounding like an a-hole. Did anyone else notice that the fire in Celebrini’s burners is getting smaller? It was expected, he’s not any different than most rookies with one exemption- he’s used to winning all his life and now, after initial huge success, teams are adjusting to his game making his life harder. That in turn limits his abilities and affects his head. Smith, being a smaller guy, should be sent to Cuda after 9 games since it’s clear he’s not NHL ready yet and needs to gain some weight and experience… Read more »
Win-win. Played a competitive game and improved their draft status.
I’m with you there. George was good too. Hopefully they can keep pumping his tires so they can trade him for a 5th or 6th.
Buffalo Chicago Detroit phoenix etc. have been stockpiling high draft capital for quite a while, a losing culture of ineptitude and failure is a slippery slope if it continues for years and years imo just saying I don’t think this roster is as bad as its performance would suggest.
I do have the same feeling about this team personnel. It seems to be good, shows flashes of talent and excellent play, yet there’s something missing and games feel ‘scripted’, if that’s the right word. How many games did Sharks lose by 1 goal in the last minute or two? Were they told to lose which would be detrimental to mentality of all young guys and their desire to play? It’s entirely possible that could be the case, and if true, the management has no clue how it’s done properly. Building by drafting takes time and has its limits. By… Read more »
It’s not even remotely possible they were told to lose games. That doesn’t happen in this day and age.
Same script – same result. No offensive pressure and hanging on for dear life. Putting Kunin on the Celebrini line is sheer idiocy. Warshofsky is not the coach for this team at this point in its development. We need an experienced winner at the helm.
Just wrong. Wario is the perfect coach at the perfect time. You simply don’t understand the makeup of this roster or where in the rebuild cycle the team is currently at.
He seemed like a guy who knows a lot about working with young players, and with strong personality I thought he should be able to develop them. Unfortunately, the happy days didn’t last long, and over last 20 games or so he’s making the same mistakes without correcting them. That tells me he’s run out of ideas which is too bad b/c he’s so much better coach than his predecessor Quinn. What Sharks may need is somebody with history of turning teams around. Changing players is only a part of the process and HC should be one of the main… Read more »
wow, didn’t know these comment sections were frequented by NHL level coaching gurus. 🤔 We’re so lucky to have you 2 brilliant minds slumming with us.🧐🤣