For the first few minutes of last night’s game, it looked like the San Jose Sharks were going to head into the 4 Nations break with a decisive win. For Sharks fans, it looked like the team had finally found its stride. But that was two minutes into the game. It was all downhill from there and ultimately, the Sharks lost to the Dallas Stars 8-3.
The Sharks jumped on the Stars early, striking for two goals in the first three minutes of the game. William Eklund scored in the first 90 seconds on a Joe Thornton-esque feed from Macklin Celebrini. Then, less than 90 seconds later, Fabian Zetterlund added a marker of his own, scoring for the first time in six games.
A lesser team might have folded under that quick onslaught. A lesser team might have taken some time to find a way to get that first tally. But the Stars are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and have been for several seasons now. The team is filled with veterans and young players, all of whom know how to bend, but not break.
So, when the Stars woke up from a bad start, things went from good to bad quickly. It started with a Matt Duchene goal less than 20 seconds after Zetterlund’s marker to make it 2-1 in favor of the Sharks. Then, Jason Robertson scored at the midpoint of the period to tie the game. And, to erase the bad start entirely, Mason Marchment scored at 13:24 of the first period to give the Stars the lead.
Looking at Natural Stat Trick’s game flow chart in all situations, you can see how quickly the bottom dropped out from under the Sharks.
And, while San Jose battled back in the third period and tried to show resiliency, it’s a tough thing to do when you’re not getting the goaltending to back it up.
Vanecek fallible
And Vitek Vanecek’s game was decidedly not good. The goaltender was in net for all eight, yes eight, goals against in this game. Vanecek allowed eight goals on 34 shots. His expected goals against average was 3.47 according to Natural Stat Trick.
This goal by Jamie Benn probably best encapsulates just how easy it was for the Stars to score last night.
We don't have words, and we know you don't want to hear them, but we hope you stayed up for this 🙂 pic.twitter.com/H97n0iHFIC
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 9, 2025
Benn came into the zone all alone and just beat Vanecek. There was no fancy moves or stick work, just skating in and taking a shot to beat Vanecek on the glove side.
Vanecek was not good last night and neither was the defense in front of him.
Defense porous at best
While it’s not great to pile on after a brutal loss like the one last night, it’s worth noting exactly who on defense had the toughest night.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for San Jose Sharks on 2025-02-08: pic.twitter.com/Kd0QRhV5LM
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) February 9, 2025
There were several instances in the game where Henry Thrun had clearing passes that were kept in the zone by a pinching Dallas player. Thrun played 16:48 last night on what was considered the “top-pairing” with Jake Walman, though with some tweaks, according to the Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka.
Walman and Thrun will switch spots on the Sharks’ top defense pair, with Walman playing the right side. Poturalski is the 2C again
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) February 9, 2025
Things did not go well as Thrun was benched for the final eight minutes of the game.
Warsofsky on benching Henry Thrun for the final 8 minutes of the first period.
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) February 9, 2025
"Just got to be ready (from) puck drop. Could have benched 14 guys, but you obviously, we can't. I think it's a young defenseman that's understanding how to play with urgency in certain situations."
Highlight of the night Stars at Sharks
All of that said, let’s end this quick bites on a high note. Look at Celebrini’s Thornton-esque pass to Eklund for the first goal of the game.
Celebrini ➡️ Eklund
— NHL (@NHL) February 9, 2025
What a pass from the rookie! pic.twitter.com/VccKBppcoW
Scoring summary Dallas Stars at San Jose Sharks Feb. 8, 2025
First Period
1:25 SJS William Eklund from Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli
2:46 SJS Fabian Zetterlund from Will Smith and Andrew Poturalski
3:02 DAL Matt Duchene from Mikael Granlund
10:08 DAL Jason Robertson from Matt Dumba and Lian Bischsel
13:24 DAL Mason Marchment from Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund
Second Period
7:30 DAL Matt Duchene from Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnston on the power play
15:42 DAL Maverik Bourque from Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov
Third Period
11:20 DAL Wyatt Johnston from Oskar Back and Colin Blackwell
12:33 DAL Thomas Harley from Esa Lindell and Roope Hintz
13:00 SJS Walker Duehr from Carl Grundstrom and Ty Dellandrea
13:37 DAL Jamie Benn from Lian Bichsel
