Another loss at SAP Center is in the books, this time with Sharks’ owner Hasso Plattner in the crowd to see it all go down. The San Jose Sharks fell to the Minnesota Wild 5-2 and dropped to 19-36-12 overall for the season. The saddest part, the Sharks have only won 6 games in front of home fans this year.
That said, there were a few bright spots.
Erik Karlsson registered his 84th point of the season with an assist on the Sharks’ first goal of the game. Logan Couture got the goal. Karlsson now holds the Sharks’ record for most points by a defenseman in a single season, passing Brent Burns.
After an assist on @Logancouture‘s goal, @ErikKarlsson65 now holds the #SJSharks record for most points in a season by a defenseman! pic.twitter.com/fOCc9DuIR0
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 12, 2023
The team’s second goal of the game came from Tomas Hertl, who scored his 200th career goal.
2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ GOALS for Tomas. Congrats, Ninja Hertl!#SJSharks | @TomasHertl48 pic.twitter.com/PxQibueUZr
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 12, 2023
Tank for Bedard/Fantilli race
Sharks fans continue to look for a silver lining in all of this, and it has to be Connor Bedard (or Adam Fantilli for some.)
For his part, Fantilli had a four point night (two goals, two assists) in the University of Michigan’s 7-3 win over Ohio State. Here’s one of his goals.
Not a good idea to leave HIM open 🎯 pic.twitter.com/L84e54LWYC
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) March 12, 2023
With the win, U of M advances to the Big 10 Tournament Championship game. Fantilli now has 60 points this season as a freshman on the team.
For those tracking, Bedard was a minus-2 as his Regina Pats lost to the Medicine Hat Tigers 7-0. That said, Bedard has 125 points (61 goals, 64 assists) in 51 games in the WHL this season.
So, looking at the tank standings, the Arizona Coyotes gained a point in the team’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The Columbus Blue Jackets lost to the St. Louis Blues 5-2 and the Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1, so, no help there.
Both the Anaheim Ducks and the Coyotes play today.
The Sharks sit 31st in the league, holding steady with 50 points. The team is tied with Chicago, which has played one fewer game than San Jose. Both are three points up on Columbus, which has played two fewer games than the Sharks and one fewer game than the Blackhawks.
Meanwhile, the Ducks have three more points than the Sharks and one fewer game played. The Coyotes have seven more points than the Sharks and one fewer game played.
Jabber Jaws
As for the game, it was Evgeni Svechnikov and Erik Karlsson talking to the media after the loss. Svechnikov was candid, saying he didn’t think he did anything wrong.
“Just playing the game. Playing hockey, you know? It’s frustrating, but I don’t think I did anything wrong. Honestly, like I just, you know, the goalie comes out in front of me and I’m playing my game. He takes my stick and, you know, I kind of let it go, and he grabs again, and you know, and then their guy comes in hurting me, so I kind of let it go off about it, and I go play my game in front of the net and comes again, grabs my stick. I don’t think I’ve done anything, you know, crazy to get in the box. Especially when it’s over, it is what it is. Anyways, it’s just frustrating. There’s so much that I can say, but I’m not going to say stuff.”
Svechnikov on if it should have been coincidental minors
“I mean, for sure. I don’t think he just came at me, he came at another guy too, you know. I know what kind of respect he has or whatnot, it is what it is like I said. It’s done. It’s over. Move on. There’s no point talking about it.”
You can judge for yourself if you haven’t seen it already.
Fleury and Svechnikov were getting chippy with it 👀 pic.twitter.com/xFt3ZMENPt
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 12, 2023
Svechnikov on another Sharks’ loss
“It’s really tough just, like you said, we got to find a way and I don’t know what way it is. We just have to find a way to you know to get a win and get a feeling. You know, after one, you get second one, and you get going, but we got to find a way to make one you know. It’s in here, you know. It’s nowhere else. It’s in this room, so we got to dig in; it’s digging in right now.”
Erik Karlsson on the loss
“Pretty good start, I think. But again, you can see, you know, they do it a little bit more consistently than we do and you know, they get rewarded for it. But you know, not the worst, not the best. We’ll keep moving forward.”
Karlsson on scoring a pair of power play goals
“I mean, our power play obviously haven’t been as consistent again as we wanted to. You know, it’s gonna go a little bit in waves, but it’s been declining a little bit too much lately. So it’s nice to get a couple tonight.”
Karlsson on whether other teams take liberties with the Sharks
“Not really. I mean, we don’t really have anyone that’s gonna go out and fight. Nick er, Nikki, that’s his brother. Go out and fight Foligno and Reaves and those guys. Yeah, I think they know that and we let the ref police it and leave it at that.”
Karlsson on whether not fighting is a problem
“I mean, you don’t have to fight in this league anymore. It’s been pretty clear that they’ve been trying to get rid of that. I played in the league when you were just accustomed to it and it happened every game and, you know, there’s not that many guys that can still, you know, play the game and, you know, throw some punches. So you’ll have to ask the big man, you know, how he wants to address this group.”
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