The San Jose Sharks stuck with it, they even rallied back when the Vancouver Canucks took a late lead in the third period, but ultimately, Team Teal could not pull off the fourth straight win of the season. The Sharks lost to the Canucks 3-2 after a goal in the final minute by Vancouver’s Pius Suter sealed the game.
The Sharks were far from the best team on the ice, but they weathered the storm from the Canucks and had solid netminding behind them. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced, including some shots that were up close.
Looking at Natural Stat Trick’s heat map in all situations, you can see that the Canucks put heavy pressure on Blackwood in and around the net.
Timothy Liljegren makes his debut
The other story of note was the addition of Timothy Liljegren to the lineup just a few days after his trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Liljegren played on the first power play unit and was often paired with Henry Thrun.
Liljegren finished the night with 16:57 of ice time, including 1:39 on the power play and just seven seconds on the penalty kill. He did not have any points, but he was on the ice for both of the Sharks’ goals.
Looking at Natural Stat Trick’s event map, you can see that there was some good and some bad. He had a shot on goal and a hit, but he also gave away the puck twice.
Still, for his first game in a Sharks’ uniform and his first professional hockey game in about three weeks, Liljegren performed admirably.
Highlight
For a few seconds last night, I was reminded of the days of old. The Shark Tank was pretty packed and though there were Vancouver fans in the stands, the roar of the crowd when Mikael Granlund scored the game tying goal with 1:17 left in the game was reminiscent of better times in Sharks hockey.
MIKAEL GRANLUND TIES IT UP LATE 🚨 pic.twitter.com/BDJztRe4yw
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 3, 2024
While this season might be filled with a lot of losing, it feels like there will also be moments like this, which is exciting.
Scoring summary Canucks at Sharks Nov. 2, 2024
First Period
No Scoring
Second Period
2:37 SJS Nico Sturm from Luke Kunin
14:41 VAN Pius Suter from Nils Hoglander and Conor Garland
Third Period
15:38 VAN Jake DeBrusk from Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek
18:43 SJS Mikael Granludn from Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund
19:34 VAN Pius Suter from Conor Garland and Carson Soucy
