Quick bites: Columbus concludes cringeworthy clash

The showdown between two of the worst teams in the NHL lived up to…or down to expectations in this case. The Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks rank 29th and 31st in the league, respectively, which savvy sports fans know means neither team is winning many games. However, when a clash of the not-so-titans occurs, ultimately, someone has to come out on top. In this instance, the crown went to the slightly better Columbus, which won 4-3 in regulation thanks to a late goal by Boone Jenner.

This was not pretty hockey by any stretch of the imagination. There were plenty of turnovers, plenty of defensive miscues and plenty of breakaways. While it made for exciting hockey, it wasn’t necessarily good.

Natural Stat Trick’s gameflow chart for the game offered up a pretty good idea of how things went. Remember that in most cases, this season’s version of the Sharks is thoroughly dominated by the opposing team. That’s not the case in this game. A Sharks team minus Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl is apparently able to hold its own with the Blue Jackets. Take from that what you will.

Duclair’s stock rising

Just because the game wasn’t great, doesn’t mean there weren’t some takeaways from it.

Just like Filip Zadina did against the Calgary Flames, Anthony Duclair decided to use this game to let teams know he still has a scoring touch. Duclair scored two goals last night, his 10th and 11th of the season. Somehow, hitting double digits in goals makes Duclair seem like a much more desirable player.

The forward’s goals were very similar. In the first, Duclair is on a slight break and he uses his speed to get separation. Duclair makes a move on the goaltender before sliding it five-hole. On the first goal, there was a little luck tossed in for good measure. The second, Duclair receives a pass and again uses his ability to accelerate quickly to gain a bit of separation. He uses his quick hands to score in a similar fashion.

If Duclair can string together a few more good games, he should garner more interest as the trade deadline approaches.

Sharks backfilling on offense

There was obvious concern that a team that has had trouble scoring this season would have even more trouble scoring without the likes of Couture and Hertl. So far, the players have put those worries to rest.

For the second game in a row, the Sharks have managed to score three or more goals. Considering that the team has only managed to score three or more in a third of its games this season and that most of those games happened with Hertl on the bench, the latest scores are a good thing.

Tough night for Johnny Gaudreau

We tend not to highlight a player from the other team in Quick Bites, but honestly, this was a tough one for Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau happened to have three breakaways in five minutes and none of them went in.

I don’t know which is more embarrassing, #SJSharks giving up THREE breakaways to Johnny Gaudreau in a 5min span or him going 0-3 on them.#CBJ #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/kYDluxNcCc

— SnipeCity420  (@SnipeCity420) February 18, 2024

When Gaudreau finally scored in the third period, his joy was audible. As in, it was picked up from the mics on the ice. Sadly, for him, the joy was short-lived. The Sharks challenged the goal, saying the Blue Jackets were offsides entering the zone. They were right and Gaudreau “missed” another goal.

Highlight Blue Jackets at Sharks Feb. 17, 2024

For the highlight of the night, let’s look at Fabian Zetterlund’s goal. It was his first goal in seven games and it was thanks to an excellent setup by Calen Addison on the power play.

Zetterlund with the one-timer to tie it up 🎯 pic.twitter.com/0UEQtNCUNj

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) February 18, 2024