The San Jose Sharks did its best to shine through the trade clouds looming over the worst team in the NHL, but it’s hard when rumors affect who is in the locker room next to you. While San Jose’s players worked hard in last night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, the loss of Nico Sturm earlier in the day and the removal of Jake Walman and Luke Kunin from the lineup because of potential trades proved to be too much to overcome. The Sharks fell to the Avalanche 7-3.
The Sharks tried to put on a good show, despite the last minute losses of Sturm, Walman and Kunin.
As you can see from Natural Stat Trick’s Corsi game flow chart in all situations, the team was actually holding its own with the Avs in the first period. But when you get into a foot race and start trading punches with a team like the Avs, you’re eventually going to get knocked out. As much as the Sharks tried to stick with the Avalanche, the team was eventually overrun.
The Sharks were outshot 26-15 in the second period, out-chanced 29-14 and outscored 5-1. By the end of the 40 minutes, the game was all but done. That said, credit to the Sharks for not giving up. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks outshot the Avs 19-6 in the third period and out-chanced Colorado 18-3.
Blackwood > Georgiev
There is clearly a reason that the Avalanche swapped goaltenders in November and this game seemed to be the perfect case study. It featured Mackenzie Blackwood facing his old team and Alexandar Georgiev facing his.
Blackwood stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced last night, allowing a total of three goals. He outpaced the expected goals against of 3.82 and ended the night with a .912 save percentage.
Meantime, Georgiev stopped just 25 of the 32 shots he faced last night, allowing seven goals. It was well below the expected goals against of 4.32 and the .781 save percentage is a tough pill to swallow.
What’s more, Blackwood outplayed Georgiev on the man advantage. The Sharks went 2-for-5 with the extra attacker, while the Avalanche went 3-for-4. Admittedly, the defense in front of Georgiev should bear some of the blame, like on the Jonathan Drouin goal:
Tic-tac-Jo #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/PjLghQipsR
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 7, 2025
… but in situations like this, you need your goaltender to be the best player on the ice. Not to mention the short-hander that Georgiev gave up on the Sharks’ first power play of the night.
Eklund hits a milestone
Congrats to young William Eklund, who hit his milestone 100th point in this game. Eklund has played 152 career NHL games. His 99th point of his career came on an assist on the power play with a beauty of a cross-ice pass to Macklin Celebrini.
Goal 2️⃣0️⃣ for the rookie! pic.twitter.com/aQD8HhCEH5
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 7, 2025
And, for point number 100, Eklund swoops in and buries the rebound off of Blackwood’s pad.
Point 💯 for William Eklund‼️ pic.twitter.com/70QlXePotM
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 7, 2025
Earlier this week, Eklund set a career record for points in a season. He had 45 last season, his first full year in the NHL, and has 48 and counting this season. For Sharks fans, he marks the light at the end of the tunnel. Eklund is just 22 years old and he’s finding his stride.
Crazy stat. In this game, where Eklund hit his 100th career point, Nathan MacKinnon had five points and pulled within two points for 100 points … in a season.
Scoring summary San Jose Sharks at Colorado Avalanche March 6, 2025
First Period
4:19 COL Joel Kiviranta from Cale Makar shorthanded
6:43 COL Cale Makar from Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon on the power play
10:08 SJS Fabian Zetterlund from Collin Graf on the power play
19:57 COL Jonathan Drouin from Martin Necas and Artturi Lehkonen on the power play
Second Period
0:40 COL Martin Necas from Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon on the power play
10:54 COL Nathan MacKinnon from Cale Makar and Josh Manson
Third Period
5:21 COL Nathan MacKinnon from Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar
8:10 SJS Macklin Celebrini from Will Smith and William Eklund on the power play
9:00 COL Cale Makar from Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews
17:24 SJS William Eklund from Tyler Toffoli and Alex Wennberg
