The San Jose Sharks finished their road trip at the United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time this season. Although there was originally quite a bit of hype around this game for Sharks fans, as it was the first time they’d have an opportunity to see superstar rookie Connor Bedard, unfortunately, he’s out with an injury. Instead, this game became known as the Macklin Celebrini Bowl as both teams will be competing for the top odds at drafting the projected first overall pick this summer.
Sharks’ Discipline Continues to Cost Them
The Sharks took two minor penalties in the first ten minutes of the game. The first was Alexander Barabanov getting called for tripping on Phillipp Kurashev. Although the Sharks were able to kill that penalty off, they weren’t able to do so when Ryan Carpenter got called for slashing. Cole Guttman converted on the power play with a between-the-legs shot off of a rebound and the Sharks were down 1-0 halfway through the first. Although their discipline improved for the second half of the period, they got back to taking penalties early in the second when Fabian Zetterlund tripped up Nikita Zaitsev.
Even though the Blackhawks didn’t have the most impressive power play, the Sharks are the worst penalty-killing team in the NHL for a reason. Taking an abundance of penalties is just going to make things much harder for themselves and they need to learn how to stay out of the penalty box.
Tempers Flare, Gloves Fly in the Second Period
Whenever a team is in the basement of the league, they likely make up for their lack of high-end skill with an abundance of physicality. In the second period alone, we saw tempers flare and gloves fly twice. In the first fight, Guttman dropped the gloves with Kyle Burroughs after a hit on Lukas Reichel along the boards. It was a relatively short one, but it got the message across. Two and a half minutes later, Justin Bailey took a hit from Jarred Tinordi, and following Guttman’s precedent, Scott Sabourin fought for the first time as a Shark to stand up for his teammate in a heavyweight scrap.
The Sharks called up Sabourin intending to fill the hole left by Givani Smith’s absence in the lineup with his job being to protect the young players on the roster and make sure the Sharks are a tough team to play against. So far, he’s done just that in his limited opportunities.
Zetterlund, Eklund Fighting For a Goal
Fabian Zetterlund was one of the most notable players on the ice for the Sharks during this game. David Quinn wanted his team to shoot and Zetterlund took that responsibility personally. In regulation, he recorded eight shots on goal and was doing everything in his power to get his team the win.
William Eklund had a few scoring chances, and unfortunately, his goal-scoring drought will continue. He’s getting good opportunities but is unable to finish on them. It’s now been 16 games since he’s been able to score a goal. He seems on the verge of finding the back of the net, but he continues to be snake-bitten. Once he does score one though, it could open the floodgates for the young Swede.
Related: Sharks Struggle to Gain Control in Tough Loss to Senators
This seemed like a game that the Sharks should’ve won, which makes it fairly unsurprising that they found a way to lose. It took a lengthy shootout, but the Blackhawks walked away with a 2-1 win on their home ice. Meanwhile, the Sharks have another losing streak going as they’ve now lost three in a row once again.
