Sharks Give Up 2 Short-Handed Goals in 23 Seconds, Lose 6-3 in Hertl’s Return to San Jose

The San Jose Sharks welcome Tomas Hertl and the Vegas Golden Knights into SAP Center.

It’s Hertl’s first game back in the Shark Tank since the shocking Trade Deadline deal.

Shakir Mukhamadullin scored his first NHL goal…also Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli scored, but the Sharks blew another late lead 6-3.

Period 1

Nice tribute for Tomas Hertl, well deserved! pic.twitter.com/QQLWC6h0b0

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2024

Tomas Hertl's last game with #SJSharks was 1/27/24 vs. Sabres.

Only 5 Sharks teammates from that game (Kunin, Mukhamadullin, Rutta, Sturm, Zetterlund), just 11 months ago, are playing tonight for the Sharks pic.twitter.com/bgPEoC5lSi

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2024

Vegas forecheck on top of Kovalenko, turnover on what needs to be an exit.

2 in: Smith pulls off a tough play, soft pass high in tight quarters to Liljegren coming into the zone. That’s a sneaky difficult play, need a lot of touch, which Smith achieves.

Hanifin goal: Hanifin coming late by himself, no one picks him up. Someone has to get him. You also want Georgiev to get that too.

7 in: Big Georgiev save on Stone one-timer alone in the slot there though.

10 in: San Jose Sharks escape serious miscommunication. Loose puck for exit, looks like Smith thought Zetterlund would get it and vice versa. No one does, and Georgiev has to face two Grade-A’s. Vegas separating, up 8-2 shots.

9 left: Sturm does nice job soft picking Pearson, giving Ceci a little space with puck to try to exit…but that shift is very Sharks tonight. Ceci can’t do anything with puck at first, almost loses it, able to get it back, they do form a nice controlled exit to Ceci streaking through middle, but it leads to nothing but a gritty but fruitless forecheck. No easy offense here is my point. A lot of work for nothing. That’s Vegas’s forecheck, but it’s also the Sharks not being quite on par.

Mukhamadullin goal: Think Smith should get an assist too on the Mukhamadullin goal? After the draw, doesn’t look like anyone touched it before Zetterlund won the puck. Outstanding work by Zetterlund, by the way. Took it from Pietrangelo, whoa. That’s a big league play. Then Mukhamadullin shot was going wide, but Hill kicked it into net, looks like. In the words of DJ Khaled, congratulations, you played yourself.

Smith did get an assist on the Mukhamadullin goal, his first point of the month, first point in eight games (he missed more than a week with an upper-body injury)

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2024

Celebrini penalty: Eichel took it from Celebrini, then Macklin took it from him, and stapled him to the wall, but Mack got tagged for a hooking. Fun sequence to watch though. Another one of those, can’t believe he’s 18 plays, stapling his fellow BU alum like that, nine years his senior, into the boards.

Period 2

Stone goal: Didn’t look like much at first, but Golden Knights first line dominated the puck, San Jose Sharks couldn’t take it. Then Ceci couldn’t contain Stone in front, who jumped on the rebound.

Smith goal: So much to like about this play. Actually Grundstrom, persistent, made life hard for Vegas exit. Didn’t cause a turnover, but allowed Celebrini line to come all out. Then Macklin, defensive play, then the dive to get it into the zone. Just wow. Then Smith in the slot, behind the back pass to Celebrini. Honestly, if that pass doesn’t connect, we’d be roasting Smith. Good to see the confidence still high for him. And like Drew says, Smith just goes hard to the paint.

9 left: That was a dominant O-zone shift from Celebrini. That was McNabb, a premier defensive defenseman, he slipped in the corner.

6 left: Gotta give Sharks credit, Vegas was grinding them, and they pushed back, led by Celebrini, but other Grade A’s, Granlund to Toffoli, Sturm to Kunin, etc.

Toffoli goal: Just throw it toward the goal! Looks like off Hague past Hill. Nice Goodrow pass to Granlund for easy entry too, Granlund speed backed off Vegas.

3 left: One of Celebrini’s subtle skills, he doesn’t get hit a lot. McNabb thought he had Macklin lined up, but Celebrini able to avoid worst of it. His head is always up.

Period 3

McNabb goal: Not sure why Liljegren is selling out there? It’s McNabb. Want a stop there.

Eichel goal: The massive mistakes. I like Wennberg this year, and Eichel is Eichel, but too easy. Two short-handed goals against in 23 seconds.

Well that’s a spectacular way to lose a game.

Dorofeyev goal: Turnover high in OZ by Sharks, Sharks are behind the play. Dorofeyev ahead of Ceci. Simple as that.

9 left: A little bit of a buzz in the building whenever Celebrini picks up the puck with a head of steam. Sellout crowd, by the way, in Hertl’s return.

7 left: Dorofeyev just took it from Liljegren one-on-one on forecheck. Yuck.

2 left: Surprised Warsofsky didn’t use his timeout, instead throwing not your top-choice players with an empty net, like Dellandrea. Seems like a message.

Hague stands up Kovalenko, Wennberg gives a push, but Goodrow comes in full bore. Like to see it. This is not a good Sharks team, but they gotta stick together to get out of this.