It was a beautiful night at the Shark Tank. San Jose enjoyed seeing one of its favorite players see his number immortalized as friends, teammates, family, and fans gathered to reminisce and celebrate the career of Jumbo Joe Thornton. Still, the Sharks could not take the win as they fell 4-2 to the Buffalo Sabres, despite this being perhaps their best first two periods of the season. San Jose was solid early but came up short at the end.
It started well when Fabian Zetterlund broke the deadlock. A point shot from Jake Walman was kicked out by James Reimer, and Zetterlund was on the doorstep to deposit the rebound. Immediately pointing to the newly hanging number 19 in the rafters, the goal was quickly dedicated to Joe Thornton and the legendary San Jose Sharks forward. San Jose took a quick lead and looked good early for their retired legends in the building.
Buffalo tied the game when Peyton Krebs found his way alone into the Sharks zone after a pass from Bowen Byram, which was only partly deflected by the Sharks. Krebs walked in alone and rifled the puck into the corner of the net past Mackenzie Blackwood after another defensive breakdown in the neutral zone. San Jose couldn't get back to stop the young Sabres forward, and Krebs tied the game up, spoiling the party atmosphere at the Shark Tank.
San Jose returned in the second period off a faceoff as the Sharks forced a turnover. Alex Wennberg lost the faceoff, but Tyler Toffoli won the race to win the loose puck in the corner. Toffoli got the puck in front to Luke Kunin, and Kunin fired it home to restore the lead for Team Teal. San Jose was playing really well in the first two periods of this one, and a good third period could settle the game.
Unfortunately, the Sharks couldn't do that. Three third-period goals from the Sabres turned the game on its head as the young Sharks roster came undone when the Sabres roared back to take the win. San Jose played well for the first forty minutes but came up short when they could have bagged the two points. Some immaturity defensively cost the team, and the win was there for the taking but evaded the Sharks.