It started as a special night at SAP Center as Timo Meier, the former Sharks first-round pick and power forward sniper returned to San Jose for the first time since the major trade between the San Jose Sharks and the New Jersey Devils. In what was almost perfectly serendipitous, the game was just one day off from being exactly a year from the trade.
There has been a lot of discussion of late about how the trade has looked for both New Jersey and San Jose. Of course, Meier is a supreme talent and was a homegrown product by the Sharks. In his career as a Shark, Meier amassed 154 goals in 451 games, and scored 316 points overall. He was a key part of the team’s final playoff run, one that took them to the Western Conference Finals in 2019, and was just starting to blossom as a superstar for the team before he was ultimately moved by the rebuilding Sharks.
The good news is that the exchange between the two teams certainly elevated San Jose’s standing in prospect rankings by various sources around the NHL media. The deal arguably helped the Sharks acquire two of their current top three prospects in Shakir Mukhamadullin and Quentin Musty, and has already brought considerable contributions from Fabian Zetterlund and Nikita Okhotiuk.
Setting aside the larger stories, the Sharks were ultimately toyed with by the Devils. From San Jose’s standpoint, this game went from good, to bad, to hideous at a rapid, snowballing rate. The Sharks got on the board first following a very nice play from Alexander Barabanov to center the puck to Nico Sturm. The Sharks’ staring goaltender on this night, Mackenzie Blackwood, left the game with an injury. From then on, it was all Jersey. Nico Hischier put up four points, Jack Hughes got three and the Devils got three goals from its blueline. Timo Meier scored before having the goal taken away on a miss offsides call, but both he and other former Shark Chris Tierney skated away with 3 assists total.
Blackwood’s exit
The most notable news out of this game was the apparent injury to goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who left the game late in the first period after making a save on a harmless looking play.
It appears that he may have pulled a muscle while dropping into his butterfly. We should get an update soon on Blackwood’s long-term status, but he did not return for the rest of the game, forcing Kaapo Kähkönen to come in relief.
Blackwood was playing an excellent stretch of hockey in goal for the Sharks of late, including making 13 saves on all 13 shots in the opening frame. It was a different story for Kähkönen, although the team’s effort in front of him was quite horrible in the second and third periods. If this is a long term injury for Blackwood, we can expect Magnus Chrona to be called up from the AHL once again, and he may get a game in with a back-to-back coming up this weekend. This is getting a little bit ahead of what we know with Blackwood’s injury, however.
Barabanov back on track
Last night’s lone bright spot was Alexander Barabanov’s effort on both sides of the puck. He has regained his prior form following the healthy scratch against Vegas last week. He was hustling to get into defensive position, backchecking to disrupt quality chances for the Devils, finishing on checks, and using that patented “10 and 2” skating form to establish an offensive swing. His pass to Nico Sturm for the first goal of the game was a marvel of a play that started with a steal in the neutral zone as Barabanov was back-checking. His vision has always been at a top 6 level for the NHL, but he will earn more opportunities to set up plays with a continued commitment to playing on the defensive side of the puck.
Sharks have to be perfect to win
The Sharks’ effort was there for the first two periods, but the unforced errors accumulated and cost them at several key plays. Sharks Assistant Coach Brad Wiseman, and media analysts Drew Remenda and Brett Hedican all couldn’t help but comment on the Sharks’ puck mismanagement. And they were right. The Sharks made several turnovers at both the offensive and defensive bluelines, leading directly to goals against.
Up 1-0 to start the second period, the Sharks began the frame struggling to execute in the rare moments the players had the puck. An attempted zone entry gone wrong led to a New Jersey 2-on-1 goal that was misplayed defensively. Then, an errant pass across the blueline was read beautifully by New Jersey’s Jack Hughes, sending the Devils’ leading scorer on a breakaway. These two goals came less than a minute apart in the second period’s early going, and broke the Sharks back.
The Sharks don’t have enough skill as a unit to outmatch the team’s opponents, especially ones like last night. San Jose only makes it easier for fast teams like New Jersey to transition from defense to offense when the players make turnovers at the most inopportune areas of the ice, and with very little defensive puck support.
Highlight
The aforementioned Barabanov dish to Sturm, this goal was the only Sharks beaut aside from the gorgeous Cali Fin jerseys (I will never stop being amazed by how they look on the ice).
As many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our