The San Jose Sharks ventured into a hostile environment on Sunday night, traveling to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Blackhawks. San Jose went toe-to-toe with Chicago, outplaying them in this matchup as the shorthanded Sharks were able to hold their ground.
Unfortunately for team teal, Chicago’s stars combined for the game-winning goal in overtime as Patrick Kane fed Jonathan Toews on a two-on-one rush and he tipped it over the outstretched glove of Martin Jones to give the Blackhawks a 4-3 victory.
It was a very entertaining matchup between these two squads as the first period saw four goals find their way into the back of the net.
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Artem Anisimov would capitalize on a gift from Paul Martin who lost the puck behind the net and Anisimov was able to sneak one past Jones to give Chicago the early lead.
However, San Jose would answer right back more than three minutes later on a beautiful goal all around. Marc-Edouard Vlasic executed a perfect stretch pass from his own zone right onto the tape of Joonas Donskoi who completely faked out Corey Crawford for his fourth goal of the season. The assist for Vlasic was his 200th career point.
"You can’t pass up watching this Donskoi goal. #SJSvsCHI https://t.co/23kOS6yNe2— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 21, 2015"
The Sharks would take their first lead as Tommy Wingels picked the far corner on the power play after Donskoi provided the perfect screen in front as San Jose found the back of the net for the third straight game on the power play.
This time, it was the Blackhawks time to answer as Kane somehow found enough room over the shoulder of Jones to chip in his 21st goal of the year and even the score at two after 20 minutes of play.
The second period featured more of the same, except the Sharks would be the only team to light the lamp. Joe Pavelski would score his third goal on the road trip as he corralled a point shot from Martin in front and stickhandled around Crawford before depositing the puck into the open net for his 16th of the year.
San Jose was at their best in the third period, outshooting Chicago by an 11-5 margin, but it was one mistake that proved costly and allowed the home team to tie things up once again. Andrew Shaw would walk out of the corner and find the puck after a poke check from Jones and bury it for the equalizer.
From there, Crawford would stand tall for the Blackhawks, including an incredible glove save on Donskoi to keep things tied up, before Toews could win it in overtime.
The Sharks played another solid game in this one, but made just one too many mistakes on this night including a terrible change on the decisive goal. Right now, San Jose is faltering far too often in their defensive zone and it’s costing them critical points at this juncture.
While the Sharks grabbed at least one point, they’ll feel like they deserved the extra one even though they were without the services of Joel Ward and Melker Karlsson.
Next: Sharks Face Big Tests Before Christmas Break
San Jose now heads back to the West Coast where they will face their biggest test of the entire road trip. The Sharks have a meeting with the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night as they try to make up some ground within the Pacific Division and send a statement to one of their rivals.