San Jose Sharks fall on home ice to Detroit Red Wings to make it 10 without a win
By Conor Power
This is starting to get a little concerning. The San Jose Sharks welcomed the Detroit Red Wings into the SAP Center in the Bay Area, and then got beaten over the head by the team from Motown in a promising defeat, as silly as that sounds. There was a lot to like for a team that has been struggling with a little bit of everything recently, the Sharks were able to get some offense on the board and it's something.
Detroit's powerplay would break the ducks on the scoreboard early as they would win an offensive zone faceoff and get the puck back to the point for Shayne Gostisbehere. The former Coyote lead a pass up the boards for Lucas Raymond, who set up Daniel Sprong out in front on the one-timer, and the Red Wings had a 1-0 lead off of a beautifully worked powerplay set up It was not great defending, but it was also a powerplay.
San Jose would get it back before the end of the period. Fabian Zetterlund would collect a loose puck along the boards before trying to set up Mike Hoffman who fanned on his shot. Mikael Granlund would pick up the loose puck, and his shot would create a scramble behind the netminder, and Zetterlund tried to tap it home, but Lyon pulled it off the line. He pulled it off the line so well, it hit his padding and bounced back in, giving the Sharks a goal they needed. Sometimes you need a bounce like that.
Olli Maatta would play a defenseman to defenseman pass to his partner Justin Holl. The former Maple Leaf whipping boy carried the puck up the ice before dropping it back for J.T. Compher. That shot just isn't stopped as Kaapo Kahkonen has a nightmare with that one, and the Red Wings take their lead back. That shot just handcuffed Kahkonen, and the Red Wings got a bounce like the Sharks got in the first period.
San Jose's never say die attitude reared its head again though, as they were able to get back onto level ground before the second intermission. A board battle would result in the Sharks getting the puck back to Mario Ferraro at the point. Ferraro just fired it at the net, and a beautiful tip out in front by Justin Bailey got it over the pad of Alex Lyon, and the Sharks were alive.
In the third period, the Sharks would even take the lead. Mario Ferraro would receive a pass from Ty Emberson and send Alexander Barabanov up the ice with a lead pass. Barby would get past Shayne Gostisbehere. Throw on the breaks to do a spin and fire a shot from the circle that just beat Lyon. The 100th point in his NHL career, and the Sharks lead against the Detroit Red Wings for the first time this season.
But from here onward, David Perron decided that the fun was over. Compher carries the puck into the offensive zone before sending it over to Sprong along the side boards on a powerplay. Sprong fires it across the ice, and Perron just walks onto it to fire it home and make it a 3-3 game once again. The depth of the Red Wings was showing up and allowing them to get back into this game when the Sharks were trying to close it out.
Detroit would get the back breaker with less than two minutes left in the game. Raymond got a loose puck after Perron knocked it to the sideboards. Raymond fired it across the ice to Perron, and Perron through the puck at the net. It bounced off of the skate of Kyle Burroughs and into the net, as David Perron picks up his second goal in a row, and with 90 seconds left in the game, the Sharks are now trailing.
With the net empty, a shot from Mikael Granlund gets blocked at the blueline, and Michael Rasmussen skates the puck up the ice with his parents in the building, getting the empty net goal with six seconds left in the game. It all went wrong in the final two minutes for the Sharks in a game that was there for the taking, but they have now lost nine straight, and haven't gotten a point since that OT loss to Vegas.