That was the loudest the SAP Center had been in a very long time. Alex Wennberg had tunnel vision. The puck slid into the goal, and the place was electric. Yaroslav Askarov was taken aghast.
The vibes have returned to the Shark Tank.
First period
The Sharks lost the faceoff, and the game began. Three minutes in, Jeff Skinner made a nice shot attempt, but Daniil Tarasov’s leg blocked it.
The Sharks were leading the first half of the frame with a killer shooting mentality, putting up five shots in eight minutes, and the Panthers had only one.
Halfway through, Noah Gregor took to the penalty box for high-sticking Ryan Reaves. Reaves had been playing a solid game, with a good chance right before the penalty. The Sharks were on their first power play, and the first one of the game. They held solid in the Florida zone and were very close, but nothing was produced.
The ability to hang on to the puck was strong. San Jose seemed connected, composed and relaxed. But that ended when Skinner was given two minutes for tripping at 17:19. Florida was on its first power play. The Sharks stayed with the same energy and were able to kill it off.
As soon as Skinner was back on the ice, that was a good time for Macklin Celebrini to go bar down on Tarasov.
Things got chippier, and the Sharks had to kill another penalty. Philipp Kurashev went to the box with two minutes left for tripping. They held on and deflected the puck until the buzzer rang. The San Jose Sharks had an incredible first period.
Second period
The Sharks killed the penalty, making that their 14th straight PK. To add to all things good, at 16:54 Adam Gaudette got one past Tarasov, making the score 2-0 Sharks.
But the Panthers answered back with a Brad Marchand goal.
This was a tough physical game, and both teams were putting their best feet (or skates) forward. Marchand even took it upon himself to troll some Sharks fans on the glass. With 6:32 left, Reaves was in the penalty box for tripping. 11 seconds before the penalty kill ended, Wennberg joined him for high-sticking.
The Sharks held very strong for those 11 seconds of 5-on-3. It got way more physical. Guys piling up on Askarov, huge hits, and tension were building. That resulted in the Sharks killing off their 16th penalty of the year.
Marchand showed late grit, but the period ended on that note.
Third period
The Sharks were killing time for the first five minutes, keeping Florida away from the goal. Physicality picked up with a little squabble by Vincent Desharnais, followed by some good hits.
Reaves’ fire was not out, and he got mouthy with Evan Rodrigues. A few minutes later, Celebrini was given two minutes for holding. Once the penalty kill started, bodies were flying, and the Sharks defended the goal like they meant it. Dellandrea had some good sticks, and everyone (I mean everyone) was using all of their bodies to protect Askarov. They made it their 17th straight successful penalty kill.
Following this, the Sharks were put on a power play for Sam Bennet tripping Timothy Liljegren. The Sharks weren’t able to capitalize, then Florida’s net was empty. Two minutes on the clock.
It took one minute and ten seconds for Wennberg to find the back of the empty net. The clock ran out, and the Sharks snapped the Panthers 12-game point streak.
Postgame
San Jose’s work has been paying off in great ways. Especially last night, the penalty kill, defense and overall control looked outstanding. Especially against a Stanley Cup-winning team that was on a 12-game point streak. Celebrini told the media postgame how it helped the group.
“It gives our group confidence, for sure, the quality of those teams. But I think those games are kind of the model of game that we’ve been searching for,” Celebrini said.
Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky knows the weight of this payoff and realizes there is way more to work on, but much to appreciate.
“They’re not all going to be Picassos. So to our group, we worked extremely hard, we grinded it out… there’s no perfect game. So we’ll take this one,” he said.
Humble. That’s what this team is. Nothing feels better than the results of grinding out all the little things.
“Hard work helps you believe more. And now we’re getting some results, and now you add to that.,”Warsofsky added.
This is a team that has what it takes. They can beat anybody. It’s just a matter of smoothing out the cracks that are weaknesses. It’s the connection of teammates that leads to good control. More so than anything, its the energy, and the San Jose Sharks are giving just that.
“We want to keep getting better as a group; individually, we still have a long ways to go.”
