Sharks Repeat Same Dreadful Process, Drop 5-4 Decision to Hurricanes

Overview

It was yet another game that got away from the San Jose Sharks as they continued their horrendous habit of playing down to their opposition. To the credit of their opponents, though, the Carolina Hurricanes had been playing quite well coming into last night’s game despite being far out of reach of a playoff spot.

Nemo’s (Almost) Perfect First Period

The Canes showed right on their first shift that they were not going to be a team to be taken lightly as they’d produced a few quality scoring chances and even hit the post twice! Antti Niemi had to be sharp in net. The Sharks had their fair share of chances as well as they soon picked up their pace to match the opposition. Unfortunately, late in the final minute of the opening stanza, Eric Staal opened the scoring when the puck bounced off the back boards, onto his stick, and past the left pad of Nemo before he could get across to make the save. Nemo would love to have that one back.

Sharks Can’t Weather Second Period Storm

Actually, the header for the second period is a lot more lenient than it really should be. The turnovers continued and didn’t really help the Sharks’ cause to try and tie the game up. 5:33 into the period, Barclay Goodrow couldn’t get the puck deep in the offensive zone, resulting in a turnover the other way. The Sharks D gave Carolina too much time to set up on the attack, and before long forward Andrej Nestrasil split the D to make it 2-0 Hurricanes.

However, about three minutes later, the Sharks would get on the board as Tomas Hertl would score off a great backhand feed behind the net by fellow rookie Chris Tierney. Right after, the Sharks would be under penalty trouble. Though they were 3/4 on the penalty kill, they allowed one to Elias Lindholm to make it 3-1 Hurricanes.

Let’s just say overall, another not-very-solid period for the Sharks.

Third Period Near Comeback Turns Into a Bust

The period where most of the players finally decided to show up, Tomas Hertl started things off with his 10th goal of the season with Chris Tierney once again getting an assist. 3-2 Hurricanes. Then it was Logan Couture with a slapper that ended up being his 19th of the season that tied it up at 3. Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep it going. With 4:51 left in the third, Andrej Sekera got credit for the go-ahead goal as he took the initial shot and the puck rebounded off Niemi’s pad and into the net off Brenden Dillon’s skate. Despite Patrick Marleau’s attempt to make things interesting in the end, Victor Rask’s empty net was all the Hurricanes needed to seal the deal. 5-4 Carolina was the final score.