Yes, the Carolina Hurricanes are in a slump. However, if you asked 100 pundits, they’d all tell you that the Canes will be in the playoffs come April. So, the fact that this version of the San Jose Sharks managed to hang with the Hurricanes for two periods, has to give fans a bit of hope.
Looking at Natural Stat Trick’s Corsi differential at 5-on-5 play, you can see that the Sharks players held their own against the Hurricanes until midway through the third period. In fact, San Jose led the game 2-1 until former Shark, Brent Burns, scored the equalizer.
It was around that time that the Hurricanes seemed to realize they were the better team. Carolina poured on the offense, hammering the Sharks with 13 scoring chances including 6 high danger chances. It worked. At the 17:21 mark of the third period, Jalen Chatfield put the proverbial nail in the Sharks’ coffin, scoring an unassisted goal with the Sharks floundering around in front of Vitek Vanecek.
Jalen Chatfield came in clutch in Carolina 🔥 pic.twitter.com/mLDJp8bWzY
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 11, 2024
As goals go, that was a brutal one for the Sharks. In the milliseconds before, all you can see is a sea of white jerseys and Chatfield all alone to score.
Kunin had himself a night
Sharks fans should be happy with the fact that the team kept the game exciting. What might be the most surprising development in the game, however, was the play of bottom-six forward Luke Kunin.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for San Jose Sharks on 2024-12-10:#SJSharks pic.twitter.com/nOaTHUqyRL
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) December 11, 2024
When you look at the report from Hockey Stat Cards, you can see that Kunin was the best Sharks forward on the ice last night. Of course, that will happen when you score all of the team’s goals.
Kunin’s first goal was the result of a good play by Macklin Celebrini and then simply having quicker hands than defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.
Macklin Celebrini âž¡ Luke Kunin pic.twitter.com/O0ZzRNefF9
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 11, 2024
While Gostisbehere made the initial block of the shot, Kunin found the puck quicker and fired it off before Gostisbehere could win the battle for the rebound.
Kunin beat Gostisbehere again on his second goal of the night, this time on a nifty pass from William Eklund.
Luke Kunin is on fire 🔥pic.twitter.com/BjdwVuMQu8
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 11, 2024
Vitek Vanecek’s opportunity to take the net
Admittedly, Vitek Vanecek wasn’t lights out last night. But there are things to show that the netminder might be able to perform admirably for the Sharks, especially in the absence of Mackenzie Blackwood.
Vanecek stopped 25 of the 28 shots that he faced and allowed three goals. However, Natural Stat Trick reports that his expected goals against was 3.62 for that game, so he at least performed better than expected.
Nikolai Kovalenko’s first game as a Shark
Sporting the number 15 in his Sharks debut, Nikolai Kovalenko did not get a chance to practice with the team before suiting up for last night’s game. The forward did okay playing on a line with Nico Sturm and Ty Dellandrea to start the game. He was also on the ice when Kunin scored his first goal of the game. He was also on the ice for the Burns goal.
That said, while Kovalenko was getting regular shifts in the first period, his playing time drastically decreased as the game wore on. He had 11 total shifts last night, but five of them occurred in the first period. In the third period, he played just two shifts and was not used for the back half of the period.
Still, Kovalenko finished the night with 9:22 of ice time. All of that time was at even strength.
It was not a statement game from Kovalenko, but I think the Sharks are happy with what he produced given that he has yet to participate in a team practice.
Scoring summary San Jose Sharks at Carolina Hurricanes Dec 10, 2024
First Period
4:26 CAR Shayne Gostisbehere from William Carrier and Jack Roslovic
18:51 SJS Luke Kunin from Macklin Celebrini and Cody Ceci
Second Period
11:44 SJS Luke Kunin from William Eklund
Third Period
4:11 CAR Brent Burns from Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas
17:21 CAR Jalen Chatfield unassisted
