The San Jose Sharks hosted the New Jersey Devils for some matinee hockey. The game was a close one, but ultimately it was the Sharks who were victorious, 3-2.
Game Recap
Right off the bat, the excitement began. Jonas Siegenthaler had to sit for two minutes after high-sticking Tyler Toffoli 26 seconds into the game. Play continued afterwards, with not a lot happening until the 15-minute mark. It was Brendan Dillon’s turn to sit, this time for hooking Macklin Celebrini. The Sharks were not able to score with the extra man advantage. They did, however, score immediately after the Devils got back to full strength. William Eklund was driving the puck up toward the net when he was thwarted by two Devils players. Luke Kunin got a hold of the puck, passing it back up to Eklund. He spotted Nikolai Kovalenko and passed it to him. With a great wrist shot, he scored his first goal as a Shark.
The second period kicked off with the Sharks earning their first penalty of the game. Celebrini was called for high-sticking Dillon. With the Devils on an extra man advantage, they made the most of it. Birthday boy Nico Hischier scored to put the Devils on the scoreboard. Jesper Bratt sent a pass to Jack Hughes from the blue line. From here, Hughes saw Hischier up in front of the net and passed to him where he was able to send the puck into the back of the net. Not a bad way to spend a birthday. With the score tied at 1-1, the pressure was on for both teams.
Not even two minutes into the third, the Sharks were able to break the tie. From the Devils scoring zone, Colin Graf got possession of the puck and sent it up towards his team’s zone. Will Smith got a hold of it and skated up from the neutral zone with Celebrini. With an excellent pass from Smith to Celebrini, the rookie was able to score his 13th goal of the season.
At the five-minute mark, the Devils tied it up once again. Luke Hughes skated the puck around Jacob Markstrom, circling him like a shark. He passed the puck up to Paul Cotter at the blue line, who skated up toward the Devils’ scoring zone. He juked out two of the Sharks defending him and got up to the net, where he was able to even the score. As the time began to wind down, it looked more and more like this game was heading to overtime. With 25 seconds left on the clock, the Sharks had other plans. Alex Wennberg had control of the puck up by the slot but did not find an opening. He passed the puck to Cody Ceci at the blue line. With a slapshot, he sent the puck into the back of the net, saving both teams from overtime.
Next Games
The Sharks look to continue their momentum when they host the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 7. The Devils look to break their losing streak when they play the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Jan. 6.
