San Jose Sharks lose in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks in final game before all-star break
By Conor Power
A disappointing note to end the leadup to the all-star break, but the Sharks have won four of their last six, and have a 4-1-1 record in that time frame. With injuries starting to build up, the break comes at the right time to allow Team Teal to get healthy and prepare to kick on in the second half of the season before losing a few players at the trade deadline for assets to help the future of this organization.
Anaheim would open the scoring as Jakob Silfverberg would retrieve the puck in the corner. He got it out in front of Kaapo Kahkonen to Mason McTavish. There wasn't a lot happening, so the shot from McTavish was a pretty simple save, but the rebound came out to Isac Lundestrom who couldn't miss in the low slot, and it was the home team that got out to a 1-0 lead at the Honda Center in this game.
The Sharks would get it back though before the end of the first period. Mike Hoffman got the puck back to the point for Shakir Mukhamadullin who one-timed the puck to the front of the net. John Gibson in the Ducks net was equal to it, but the rebound bounced out to Anthony Duclair who was able to get the puck to squeak through and into the net, giving Muhamadullin his first point in the NHL.
San Jose would get the lead in the second period. William Eklund got the retreval of a rebound and got it back to the point for the defensemen to go point-to-point with the puck. This allowed the red hot Marc-Edouard Vlasic to walk onto one and blast it home as the red hot defense continues to sparkle. That's 11 goals in the month of January for the defensemen, and the Sharks are enjoying some production from the blueline.
Both Fabian Zetterlund and Alexander Barabanov would become absentees on the Sharks bench. With the already injured forwards continuing to deplete, the Sharks were going to need their depth and blueline to carry the bulk of the load to get over the line from here to the end. It has been a tough game for the Sharks in terms of intensity, and team teal were going to need everyone to survive the final 20 minutes. Zetterlund would return, but Barabanov would not.
With John Gibson on the bench, Cam Fowler took the puck at the point and threw it towards the net. Adam Henrique tipped it and Kahkonen was able to keep it out. He was also able to deny Leo Carlsson but eventually Troy Terry would rip it home to tie the game up in the final minute. The Sharks were so close to another win, but have to settle for overtime against their Orange County rivals.
In the final moments of overtime, Jackson Lacombe would knock the puck away for Terry to pick up, and the Ducks rushed the other way with a two-on-one as Frank Vatrano joined the rush. Terry was able to get the puck over to the Ducks all-star representitive, and the Ducks snatched it late as Kahkonen was unable to bail the Sharks out.