The Sharks wrapped up their 3-game road trip
with a good effort, but the NHL doesn't had out standings points for effort.
They do for out-scoring your opposition and San Jose failed to that for the 5th
consecutive game, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Dallas Stars at American
Airlines Center. The Star converted on 3-of-5 power play opportunities to
out-score San Jose for the second time this season.
San Jose dropped a
5-0 decision to Dallas back on October 5th, so in retrospect, scoring 3 goals
against the Stars and their number one goaltender Jake Oettinger was a step
forward. The outcome of the game however was a step backwards in the standings.
The Sharks continue to spiral in those standings, dropping to 13th in the
Western Conference after 18 of 84 games.
San Jose jumped out to a rare
early lead, but that would be short lived. Michael Misa bagged his 4th goal of
the season 7: 22 into the contest on a Macklin Celebrini feed. The Sharks
captain was on the verge of making a line change, but double backed and carried
the puck around the left wing boards. Cutting towards the net, Celebrini
spotted Misa parked on the right post and hit him with a feed from the end
line. Misa collected Celebrini's feed and stuffed it between Jake Oettinger's
pads for the 1-0 lead.
The Stars found themselves on a 4-on-3 power
play after Mason Marchment and and Mika Rantanen were sent off with offsetting
penalties, then Jacob Trouba followed them to the box for interference. Dallas
converted on the thinly guarded ice when Roope Hintz banged home a Wyatt
Johnston shot.
Dallas made it 2-1 after the Sharks got caught
sightseeing in their own zone. Hintz pursued a puck behind the San Jose net,
then slipped it out front where Jamie Benn flipped it home with two Sharks
defenders flanking him.
Mason Marchment's 2nd minor penalty of the
period ended up stinging the Sharks when Jason Robertson pumped a rebound
chance past Alex Nedeljkovic to give Dallas the 2-goal lead.
Ivar
Stenberg gave the Sharks a glimmer of hope to start the 2nd period when
Celebrini hit Ivar Stenberg with an up pass that the rookie winger buried for
his 5th goal of the season .
That glimmer was quickly erased when San
Jose was called for too many men. That penalty would result in a 3rd power play
goal of the night for Dallas. Defenseman Thomas potted his 2nd goal of the
season on the man advantage, crippling the comeback effort.
Mark Smith cut the deficit to a single goal with
just under 3 minutes left in the period with a power play goal but it wasn't
enough. Celebrini moved the puck to Marchment on the right post, which drew two
defenders to that vicinity. Marchment then sent the puck through the crease to
Will Smith on the off wing for the easy deposit. That tally was Smith's 7th of
the season, matching his linemate Celebrini.
Alex Nedeljkovic and
Jacob Trouba mixed it up with Jamie Benn and Rantanen at the end of the second
period that took the three skaters and Misa off the ice to start the 3rd
period.
It would provide no value.
The Sharks couldn't
generate any form of momentum to get the equalizer.
Pushing all
period, the Sharks still could not solve Oettinger late. The Stars netminder
would finish the game with 20 saves, but that was meaningless because the
Sharks generated a paltry 2 shots in that critical 3rd period.
Stenberg sealed the Sharks fate by taking a slashing penalty with 3:48 left in
regulation. The critical 2 minutes evaporated for the Sharks offense.
Game Notes: * Erik Pohlkamp recorded his first NHL point on an
assist on the Ivar Stenberg goal.
* San Jose finished the road trip
0-3-0 and are collectively 4-6-1 away from SAP Center this season.
*
Macklin Celebrini recorded 3 assists to give him 6 multi-point games this
season.
* The Stars converting on 3-of-5 power play opportunities
magnified the shortcomings of the Sharks power play. They had 6 chances on the
man advantage but only converted on 1 of them. San Jose has dropped from top 10
rankings in both the power play and penalty kill as the losses mount.
* Puck possession another storyline in the Sharks loss on Saturday. They were
17 for 56 on draws, winning a miserable 30 percent of faceoffs.
