San Jose Sharks get shutout on home ice against the Edmonton Oilers
By Conor Power
Another game where the offense was unable to get on the board, the San Jose Sharks were shutout on home ice by the Edmonton Oilers for their seventh straight loss. Edmonton came into the SAP Center and were the better team from opening puck drop until the horn at the end of the third period. San Jose couldn't get anything going, and the team now has to find a way to try and end their slide.
Edmonton would take the lead early. Connor McDavid would get the puck back to the point for Evan Bouchard, as they play a give and go before a shot from Bouchard ends up in the corner. Zach Hyman retrieves the puck and gets it back to the point for Ryan McLeod, who walks in and fires it home from the high slot. Magnus Chrona had no chance on that one in his first NHL start, and it was now a 1-0 Oilers lead.
Edmonton would double its lead when the Sharks turned the puck over at the offensive blueline when Alexander Barabanov couldn't handle a pass from Kyle Burroughs. It came the other way when Darnell Nurse knocked it loose, creating an odd man rush the other way and the puck carrier was McDavid. He dished it behind the defense to Hyman, he knocked it home, and it was a 2-0 Oilers lead, and it was more self inflicted problems creating issues for this Sharks roster.
It would be 3-0 before the end of the period. Connor Brown retrieved a loose puck along the boards, getting it back to Bouchard at the point. He dished it over to Mattias Ekholm before getting it back and letting it fly. It managed to get past Chrona due to all the traffic out in front of the Sharks net, and it was a 3-0 Oilers lead. James Hamblin does a good job of taking the eyes of Chrona away, and he never sees the shot that beats him.
Leon Draisaitl would make it 4-0 before the end of the period, just to make sure we had all the salt in the wound. Kyle Burroughs gets out muscled in the corner, losing the puck in the process. It squirts loose to Warren Foegele, Foegele finds the big German out in front, and he just dances around Chrona to put an exclamation point on what has been an awful period for the Sharks.
San Jose had its chances. The Hertl line managed to create an open net for Filip Zadina, but he hit the iron instead of finding twine, and it summed up the Sharks night really. A poor defensive display in the first period combined with not being able to buy a goal, and the Sharks were just outmatched by the Oilers overall. It was just that kind of night for the team. It happens when you're rebuilding. Now it's about getting it together and moving on.
But Edmonton would make sure they got their moneys worth from the flight down to California. McDavid got the puck back to the point before it was moved over to Cody Ceci. Ceci's shot was tipped by Hyman and it squeaked through Magnus Chrona, who did not have any help most of the night. This was perhaps the only goal you can look at blaming on him, and it made it a 5-0 games. He was fine in his first NHL start.
From then onward, the two teams agreed to pull their punches and just see out the rest of the game with no injuries. It was game over, and the Sharks knew they couldn't overcome this. They'd done four goals in a period back in Detroit, but five against a team with the firepower of the Oilers was going to be the utmost of uphill tasks. Chrona did well to keep it a 5-0 game, Kahkonen came in for the third period, but it was game over.