Quick bites: Avs dominate Sharks in 6-2 win

The San Jose Sharks want to get back to the playoffs in the next few years. The Colorado Avalanche showed team teal just how far it will have to go to get there. Nathan MacKinnon had a four point night and the Avalanche soundly defeated the Sharks 6-2. Tomas Hertl was the only scorer for the Sharks.

Jacob MacDonald returns…for a few minutes

Head Coach David Quinn has continued to treat all players the same, no matter their contract or scoring touch. For last night’s game, he put Jacob MacDonald back into the lineup after a few games as a healthy scratch and placed Anthony Ducliar in the healthy scratch column. Quinn believed that there were a few aspects of Duclair’s game that had “slipped” and he wanted to give the forward a chance to reset.

MacDonald’s return was short-lived. Number nine played 43 seconds, just one shift before he was ejected from the game for a hit on Sam Malinski.

Here’s the hit on Sam Malinski by Jacob MacDonald. Ugly for sure, hopefully the rookie is okay #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/Qu5IcbYKHk

— Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) December 18, 2023

Malinski was bleeding, a lot, which is probably what made the hit seem worse than it was. It’s worth noting that he was fine after some repairs and returned soon after. He finished the game with 16:40 of ice time.

The refs reviewed the call and gave MacDonald a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Hard to understand the call if you consider all of the other calls around the league in the past few weeks, but I think the league is playing better safe than sorry in this case.

MacKinnon and company scored just once on the ensuing five-minute major, so give the Sharks’ penalty kill credit for limiting that dynamic power play to a single tally. (I know other teams that would have folded under the pressure of a five-minute major, but not the Sharks.)

You poked the bear

Last night’s loss was practically inevitable, in all honesty. The Avs had played the night before and were embarrassed by the Winnipeg Jets 6-2. The Jets scored three goals before the Avs managed to get on the board in the third period. The Jets responded with two more goals and the Avs were cooked. It was Colorado’s second loss to the Jets in the span of a week.

So, really, the Jets poked the bear and left the Sharks to clean up the mess.

MacKinnon, who is known to play with an edge, unloaded on the Sharks. He assisted on the first two goals of the game (both power play goals) and then added a few goals of his own to seal the deal. He also got into it with young William Eklund, giving him a good chop in the legs.

When MacKinnon plays like that, the Sharks don’t stand a chance unless a goaltender stands on his head a la Mackenzie Blackwood on Oct. 14. Obviously, a second go-round of that was unlikely and here we are.

Tomas Hertl taking over as San Jose’s number 1

Hertl continues to show that he’s coming into his own as the number one center with the Sharks. Before the season started, it was a 1A, 1B situation with Hertl and Logan Couture. But Couture’s absence has allowed Hertl’s game to thrive and develop some new aspects. Hertl has started to slide into that role of inspiration player rather than what he was before, where he fed off the play of others.

Take last night, for example. The Sharks were well out of the game last night when Hertl scored his first of the game. Down 4-0, San Jose had a power play and Hertl continued to do the little things right. He hadn’t touched the puck much, but he moved with the play and allowed himself to slide down to the slot, in a perfect position to deflect Mikael Granlund’s shot for the goal.

Hertl gets the Sharks on the board with a power-play goal 👏 pic.twitter.com/SDglCBSOZJ

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 18, 2023

Hertl’s goal was a direct result of that aforementioned leg chop from MacKinnon. In this case, it wasn’t so much that he scored that goal but his reaction after. The normally happy-go-lucky Hertl was stoic. He was simply taking care of business and knew that despite his personal achievement, they were a long way from winning the game.

Hertl strikes again for his second goal of the night 🚨 pic.twitter.com/kGSmM3t5EI

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 18, 2023

Hertl has found a new level of development this season and it gives me great hope for the future as he continues to develop this aspect of his game.