San Jose Sharks Come Up Empty at Madison Square Garden in Defeat to Rangers

In a hard-fought effort, Team Teal comes up short at the Garden. The San Jose Sharks fall 3-2 to the New York Rangers on the back of a sloppy second period, and the Sharks fall to 5-3-1 in their last nine. They could not recover from that messy middle frame, which put them behind the Rangers to a point where they would be unable to recover. San Jose gave it everything, but it just wasn't enough.

It started well for the Sharks when Timothy Liljegren fired a shot from the point that it bounced past Igor Shesterkin and into the back of the Rangers net. San Jose got lucky, but it's Liljegren's first goal in the teal of the San Jose Sharks, giving the Sharks the lead in New York. It goes to show that shooting the puck is never a bad idea. Deflections and redirections are challenging to stop, and it's 1-0 Sharks.

New York came roaring back in the second, tying the game up when Mika Zibanejad collected the rebound of a shot fired on from the point by Adam Fox. This entire goal stems from San Jose's inability to clear its zone. You'd also like Mackenzie Blackwood to hold onto the first shot, but it ends up in the back of the Sharks net for a tied game.

New York would score two more and have one disallowed thanks to a Sharks challenge before the end of the second period, and that was the game. Fabian Zetterlund scored on the powerplay in the final minute to make things interesting, but there wasn't enough time for the Sharks to get back into this one. They fall at Madison Square Garden, and the Sharks are starting to cool down after two strong weeks. If they're going to keep losing, at least they're close games.