The San Jose Sharks did the best it could to stick with the Colorado Avalanche last night but could not withstand the 5-on-5 pushback that came in the third period as the then-trailing Avalanche turned things up a notch. San Jose allowed three unanswered goals that flipped a 2-1 lead into a 2-4 loss.
As has been the theme for the past few games, the Sharks came to play. The team did its best to go strike for strike with one of the best teams in the league and fared reasonably well through the first forty minutes of play.
As you can see from Natural Stat Trick’s Corsi differential chart at five-on-five, the Sharks did not allow the Avalanche to take full control of the game through 40 minutes of play. Each time the Avalanche tried to swing the momentum in its favor, the Sharks pushed back.
Trouble is, when you’re facing a team like the Avalanche, there are many ways it can get you.
Special teams caused major problems
For example, on the power play.
When a team like Colorado touts two of the top five scorers in the NHL, allowing it to go on the power play is going to be a problem. That’s the trouble the Sharks got themselves into when the game became a special teams battle.
While the game itself was pretty evenly called — nothing egregious like we saw against the Winnipeg Jets — the difference in this game was that Colorado was able to take advantage of its power play opportunities while the Sharks were not.
Colorado went two for four on the power play, while the Sharks went zero for five. You’re not going to win a lot of games if you’re operating at 0% on the power play and your opponent is operating at 50%.
What’s more, Colorado’s power play goals came at opportune times, allowing the team to take the lead early in the first period and then tie the game in the third period. If the Sharks had kept things at five-on-five, we might be telling a different story this morning.
Shutting things down in the third period
This is a team that’s learning how to win and one of those things that the team needs to learn is how to close out games. These past three games have been a good example of how far the young Sharks need to go. Against the Utah Hockey Club, Jets and Avalanche, the Sharks entered the third period with a lead, only to lose that lead late in the game.
“I didn’t mind our third period of time. I thought we did some good things, but there’s a fine line of winning in this league,” said Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky after the game. “They make a couple plays, we don’t make a couple plays, and it’s in the back of our net. And that’s the difference of the hockey game.”
Warsofsky understands that this is a learning process and he asked the fans to bear with the team.
“It’s frustrating. I would say the biggest word is it’s extremely frustrating because we should be getting points, we should be winning some of these games, and we’re learning how to win,” said Warsofsky. “I know I sound like a broken record saying that, but I truly believe we’re going to start winning these games.
“We’re in it against really good teams. We’re playing with some pretty good structure. Our effort’s pretty solid. Our competitiveness is there. We’re just … when it’s time to make the play, we’re just a little off,” Warsofsky continued. “I truly believe in this group. I truly believe in the organization and direction it is heading.
“I know it’s frustrating as a fan. Trust me, we’re extremely frustrated in there, but I know our guys are working extremely hard to make this organization and the fans and the community really proud, and it’s going to get there one day,” said Warsofsky. “Hopefully, we can start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, getting some points here soon.”
Blackwood vs. Georgiev
The game marked the first meeting between the two teams since Mackenzie Blackwood and Givani Smith were swapped with Alexandar Georgiev and Nikolai Kovalenko.
Honestly, for Colorado fans, it was a chance to see that the organization made the right choice.
Blackwood held the Sharks scoreless on the power play. He allowed 2 goals on 34 shots and had a 2.69 expected goals against stat, according to Natural Stat Trick. On Carl Grundstrom’s goal, Blackwood made the initial save but could not get over fast enough to prevent Grundstrom from scoring on the rebound.
Carl Grundström’s first goal of the season ties it up 🚨
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 20, 2024
pic.twitter.com/OJrdAn8MUN
Meantime, Georgiev allowed 4 goals on 31 shots when the expected goals against, according to Natural Stat Trick, was 2.61. There were a few goals that the netminder would likely like to have back, including this one by Joel Kiviranta.
You’ve heard of elf on the shelf, but have you heard about Joel with a goal?#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/V4EeyHhGJJ
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 20, 2024
Yes, the giveaway by Will Smith was bad, but Georgiev had a clean look at the puck.
Scoring summary Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks Dec. 19, 2024
First Period
3:40 COL Valeri Nichushkin from Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon
Second Period
4:26 SJS Carl Grundstrom from Jan Rutta and Luke Kunin
9:29 SJS William Eklund from Cody Ceci and Luke Kunin
Third Period
8:26 COL Mikko Rantanen from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar on the power play
13:06 COL Joel Kiviranta from Logan O’Connor
15:58 COL Joel Kirviranta from Artturi Lehkonen and Casey Mittelstadt
