Quick Bites: Sharks let win slip away

The San Jose Sharks lost to the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 on Jan. 2 in a game the team really should have won. After all, the Sharks led 3-2 with ten minutes left to play in the third period and seemed to be on the way to a victory before it all fell apart.

The gameflow chart reflecting Corsi differential in all-situations will show that the Sharks dominated play for large portions of the game. San Jose controlled play through the neutral zone and maintained pressure in Detroit’s end of the ice for stretches of time.

While the Sharks didn’t outshoot the Red Wings, the shot counter was a close 27 to 31. All in all, it was a good opportunity for the Sharks to snap the losing streak.

But that didn’t happen.

Lack of discipline hurts the Sharks

The Sharks took a lot of penalties in this game. Some were necessary, some were not. San Jose went to the box five times in the game, and Detroit scored two power play goals. Admittedly, there were a lot of calls in this game both for and against the Sharks, but you’d really like to see San Jose be more disciplined.

Ty Emberson took an unnecessary roughing penalty that, luckily, did not lead to a goal. Jan Rutta’s holding penalty in the third period took away any momentum the Sharks got from Alexander Barabanov’s goal. The Red Wings scored on the ensuing power play to tie the game at three.

Later in the third, an errant stick by William Eklund took the Sharks out of the game for good. Whether you agree with the penalty or not — it was a questionable high-sticking call that one could argue was a simple follow through on a shot — the penalty changed the momentum of the game. While San Jose killed the penalty, the Red Wings continued to push and scored with 90 seconds remaining.

After the game, Head Coach David Quinn was not happy with the Sharks’ failure to play the full 60 minutes. He was especially disappointed with the fourth goal of the game.

“Just completely mishandled a simple breakout. Gave them the puck in the neutral zone and they throw it from the corner, goes off a skate and in…off a bad change too,” said Quinn. “We just completely…at the wrong time, turn it over, fall asleep on a penalty kill when it’s clear as day what our responsibilities are and we fall asleep. So, it’s not quite 60 minutes yet for us. It’s certainly a lot better but I’m tired of being just better.”

Fabian Zetterlund scores his 11th of the season

It’s been a few games since Zetterlund scored a goal, but the forward continues to do the little things right. Tonight, it was something as simple as putting the puck on net. Zetterlund didn’t do anything flashy but tossed the puck at Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon and it squeaked through. After a review, it was determined to be a good goal.

Zetterlund is credited with the Sharks' first goal of the night.

Official review confirmed the good goal 👏 pic.twitter.com/ICv7Qsv2nu

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) January 3, 2024

Zetterlund is now second on the team in scoring with 16 points, trailing Tomas Hertl. What’s more, the forward now has 11 goals in 37 games, and there’s still room for him to develop.

Fourth line carries the play

The fourth line really set the pace of the game. When you look at the five on five play, Natural Stat Trick shows that the line of Filip Zadina, Ryan Carpenter and Justin Bailey had a 86.67 Corsi for percentage. While only on the ice for 5:28 of the game at even strength, the trio dominated on every shift.

Zadina fired the puck at every opportunity. He finished the game with four shots on goal and looked like he was itching to score against his old team. Meanwhile, Bailey scored his first goal in nine games.

The fourth line was impactful virtually every time it touched the ice and it gave the Sharks some much needed energy.

Highlight

For tonight’s highlight, let’s take a look at Alexander Barabanov’s goal. It was his second of the season. It’s yet another instance of just throw the puck on net and see what happens. Here’s to hoping this will get Barabanov going.

BARABANOV FOR THE LEAD 👀 pic.twitter.com/SY9xs04z4h

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) January 3, 2024