After a five-game roadtrip that felt more like ten by the end, the San Jose Sharks returned to SAP Center to host the Tampa Bay Lightning. It must have been a nice relief for the group to be back in the Bay Area. By the end of that roadtrip, the Sharks looked exhausted and unfocused, losing to the red hot Nashville Predators 8-2.
Things mostly settled down, and the Sharks even played quite well at points in this game, but the Sharks still ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Tampa Bay’s legends, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, took over this game and lead them to a 4-1 win as they further solidified their playoff-bound position in the Eastern Conference. San Jose, meanwhile, now only has one win since Feb. 17.
The Sharks, for the first two periods, managed to outshoot Tampa Bay and look competitive despite being far outmatched in talent. Tampa Bay drew first blood with a goal from Nicholas Paul after a fortuitous bounce off the referee sent the puck from behind the net to the vacant slot. For approximately the next 30 minutes, the Sharks turned up the pace. William Eklund answered with a goal to tie it, finishing off a nice two-on-one rush with Jacob MacDonald. San Jose’s spirited play would not take them any further, though. Despite managing to keep the Lightning to a 1-1 tie going into the third period, the Sharks couldn’t muster anything further. Point and Kucherov, along with their newest linemate, Anthony Duclair, handled the Sharks defense like they were playing pick-up hockey.
Sharks play well, but Tampa’s stars shine
Losing a leader as important on and off the ice as Tomáš Hertl, in a year mostly without captain Logan Couture, the Sharks could only do so much. The team managed a gutsy 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators after the trade deadline, but that win was now nearly two weeks ago, and the Sharks have had six straight losses since. Head Coach David Quinn has somehow been able to motivate this team to show up and continue to play hard, even after that punishing loss in Nashville.
The team deserves some praise for their effort against a great team like Tampa. They didn’t give up and didn’t necessarily break down under relentless pressure like they did on a few separate occasions this year. They just ultimately couldn’t handle Kucherov. But honestly, what team has this season? Tampa’s offensive leader has now put together two consecutive four-point games, this coming after scoring five points against the New York Rangers last week. As if that isn’t impressive enough, after last night’s matchup, Kucherov has 122 points in 68 games. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, he’s playing this league on rookie mode.
But the story heading into the third was goaltender Vasilevskiy’s magnificent performance. The steady Russian goaltender made several incredible stops, all the while looking cool and collected as ever. San Jose could have taken the lead several times in its impressive push, but players were consistently denied by an even more impressive Vasilevskiy. At a certain point, you just had to sit back and marvel when a team’s talent takes over like it did for Tampa Bay.
In this rebuild, it’s important to watch teams like the Lightning to get a sense for what we hope the Sharks can become years from now. The organization has talented players in the pipeline like Will Smith and Shakir Mukhamadullin, but it will likely need more to match the heights of these Lightning.
Eklund moved to wing
It’s been a couple of months of Eklund playing center on the second line for the Sharks, a role which he mostly accomplished well. But with the team and Eklund himself struggling overall over the past week, Quinn elected to switch the Sharks’ bright young star with Luke Kunin.
Eklund seems to have taken the move well, understanding the ups and downs of the season and welcoming another chance to develop his game. It was noteworthy to see him add that the team is “grinding” of late. This is obvious to anyone watching, but many NHLers tend to not even go that far in admitting their struggles. Eklund’s honesty, effort, and good attitude are hallmarks of his character and promise. With only a handful of games left this season, look for Eklund to try his best to move a few strides further before the summer.
Blackwood back
Mackenzie Blackwood made his first appearance in 11 games, returning from an injury sustained against the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 27. It was a welcome return, even though it ended in another loss. Blackwood looked comfortable throughout the game, and it would be hard to pin any of the goals allowed on him alone.
The move corresponded with the Sharks assigning Magnus Chrona back to the AHL’s Barracuda. Chrona battled admirably in his stint as the Sharks’ starting goaltender, showing some signs of promise in his game. Of course, he will be better served getting starts in the AHL over watching Blackwood finish off the season from the bench. Assuming all are healthy, Devin Cooley will back up Blackwood to finish the year, but it’s likely Blackwood will get the lion’s share of starts.
Highlight Lightning at Sharks March 21, 2024
There was just the one goal scored for the home team, courtesy of Eklund:
Eklund was rewarded almost as soon as he was moved to wing. It was almost perfectly illustrative of how one may sometimes benefit from a change in a slump. Centering on this shift was Ryan Carpenter, who was the last forward back, waiting for his two wingers to change. Eklund had just jumped on the ice as the first forward change and sprinted to the open ice. A good backcheck from Carpenter and MacDonald forced a turnover, and with Eklund already charging for the open ice towards the goal, MacDonald’s choice was simple — pass for the one-timer.
Next up, San Jose hosts Chicago on Saturday, March 23 at 7:30 PST.
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