San Jose Sharks soundly defeated in a blowout in Nashville by the Predators
By Conor Power
Well that was awful, the San Jose Sharks got obliterated in Tennessee as the Nashville Predators just took their frustrations out on the Sharks. A difficult night for all involved as the Sharks were beaten 8-2 in Nashville. A poor display even by the early season standards. The most depressing thing about this is it isn't even in the top two worst games the Sharks have played this season.
It started just after the halfway mark of the first period. Roman Josi would blast one that Magnus Chrona didn't see. It hit the twine behind the young Sharks netminder as a crowd had formed in the shooting lane after the offensive zone faceoff to his right. That opened the floodgates in this game as the Predators started to understand that they could hang a number on the Sharks.
Some nifty hands from Mikael Granlund would see the former Predator work his way out of troublle in his own end. He got the puck to Mario Ferrao who worked the puck up to Klim Kostin. Kostin got it back to Granlund on the far side of the ice, and the Finnish winger would bury it to tie the game up at one with a hair under three minutes remaining in the first period.
In the second, the Sharks would take the lead. Mario Ferraro fired the puck on from the point. after some good work from the forwards on the forecheck. San Jose were leading until around the halfway point in this game, and the first half of this one had been competitive from the Sharks. They looked like the inferior team, but they looked like they were in the same league as the Predators.
From here on out, the Predators decided to go scorched earth on the Sharks. It started halfway through the second when Nashville got the puck back to the point. The shot was initally saved, but the rebound fell onto the stick of the newest Nashville recruit in the form of Jason Zucker and he was able to make an impact in his first game with the Predators after a deadline trade from Arizona.
Roman Josi took the puck for a walk shortly after this, going up the right boards and feeding the puck into the slot. The inital shot was saved, but the rebound was tapped home by Michael McCarron to give the Predators the lead back in this one. Some static defense in front, and again the Sharks couldn't cope with the rebounds out in front.
With two minutes left, Luke Evangilista would fire one into the top shelf on the backhand after the Predators created an odd-man rush into the Sharks zone. A nasty shot from a promising young talent in Nashville, but the Sharks were struggling. It looked like they were struggling to keep their heads above the water line until now, and Nashville had them lined up. That got us to the end of the second period.
Halfway through the third, the Sharks couldn't clear the puck from their own zone, allowing Jan Rutta to get knocked off the puck in the corner. Nashville then worked it out to Michael McCarron for his second of the night and the Predators put themselves up by three. Poor defensive zone coverage again by a pairing that struggled majorly tonight.
With less than 6 minutes to go in the game, Tyson Barrie played catch with Anthony Beauvillier at the point. When he got the puck back, he one-timed it and it was deflected perfectly past Magnus Chrona and into the back of the Sharks net because 5-2 wasn't enough and Nashville wanted blood. 6-2 with six minutes to go.
Filip Forsberg would score to make it 7-2 after Chrona made a few saves and Jan Rutta couldn't deal with the pressure of Nashville's star winger. Tommy Novak would score on a pretty move between the legs quickly after the Forsberg goal, and the Sharks just stopped. There was nothing left in this roster at that point, and the Sharks were toppled in Tennessee.