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Quick bites: Stars’ quick strikes sink Sharks

Posted on by Erika Towne
Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston each scored twice as the Stars beat the Sharks 6-3. William Eklund, Alexander Barabanov and Klim Kostin scored for San Jose.

Blink and you’d miss it. That’s how quickly the Dallas Stars scored on the San Jose Sharks during Tuesday night’s 6-3 win. On more than one occasion, the Stars caught the Sharks out of position and turned the puck the other way so quickly that San Jose could only scramble to catch up. And some of those Stars’ goals were things of beauty.

Take, for instance, the first goal that the Stars scored when the Sharks were supposed to be on the power play.

All Wyatt Johnston had to do was break up a play, and suddenly, he was able to split two Sharks players (Alexander Barabanov and Jacob MacDonald) and then sprint the other way. Both Barabanov and MacDonald were ineffectual in interrupting Johnston, the latter actually interfering slightly with the former. In just seconds, the Stars had a 1-0 lead.

The third goal was another quick strike. After a clean faceoff win, all Kyle Burroughs has to do is clear the puck out of the Sharks zone. There was some pressure, but nothing difficult to manage. Yet somehow, the puck ended up on the stick of Jason Robertson.

Before you could say his name, Robertson had turned the score to 3-0 in favor of the Stars.

There was a pattern in last night’s game that’s difficult for Sharks’ fans to watch. In several instances, the Sharks had control of the puck. However, through quick stick work and good positioning, the Stars were in place to intercept the puck. Those turnovers quickly turned into scoring chances and often goals.

This was not a matter of lack of skill. This was a matter of forcing the play, bad habits and poor decision making. Some of the issues that appeared to be surrounding the Sharks during the start of the season have crept back into the lockerroom and the result on the ice is not good.

Kostin continues to produce

The Detroit Red Wings traded Klim Kostin because he didn’t fit into the team’s lineup the way management had hoped. At the time, Kostin had been a healthy scratch for eight games, and he wanted an opportunity to prove he could play top-six minutes. Detroit felt it was possible to give him that opportunity in San Jose.

So far, Kostin has been one of the few bright spots in the Sharks lineup and has filled some of that gaping scoring role that had been left open with the injury to Logan Couture and the trades of Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair.

Kostin scored the third goal of the night for the Sharks with a shot that went five-hole on defenseman Chris Tanev and then right past goaltender Scott Wedgewood.

Kostin now has seven points in nine games with the Sharks, including three goals. He only scored three goals and four points in 33 games with the Detroit Red Wings earlier this season.

Mason Marchment’s first goal at SAP Center

We don’t normally focus on players on the other team with Quick Bites, but we’ll call Mason Marchment Sharks adjacent, given his connection to the team as a child. For readers that don’t know, Marchment is the son of former Sharks player and scout Bryan Marchment. The younger Marchment skated on that SAP Center ice long before he donned an NHL jersey.

So, scoring his first goal in SAP Center is something special, and boy, was it a pretty one.

Highlight of the night Stars at Sharks March 26, 2024

We had a couple of options to go with for the highlight of the night. Kostin’s goal was a pretty one. William Eklund had a pretty power play goal. However, we’re going to go with Alexander Barabanov not just because he scored for the first time in what felt like forever but also because the assist by Eklund was just…*chef’s kiss*.

Eklund finished the game with a goal and an assist. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 35 of 41 shots in the loss. On the Dallas side of things, Jamie Benn earned first-star honors with a goal and two assists. Johnston had two goals and an assist, while Robertson had two goals.

The Sharks hit the road for a two-game road trip. The team is in Minnesota tomorrow and St. Louis on Saturday before returning for the rare Monday game against the Seattle Kraken.

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