The Sharks haven't had much to write home
about this season. Eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago, San Jose has been
using the final weeks of the season to evaluate young talent and figure out
what their roster will look like next season. The one shining light this year
has been Erik Karlsson, who scored a pair of goals to push his season point
total to 100 points. The defenseman was the only Sharks to score in 5-2 loss to
the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Center in Saskatchewan on Monday night.
Karlsson became the 6th defenseman in NHL history to record 100 points
in a season. He also set records for goals by defenseman over the age of 32 and
goals by a Swedish defenseman. He was teh first defenseman to record a 100
point season since 1992.
It was a considerable accomplishment for
Karlsson given the sad state of affairs in San Jose. The Sharks unfortunately
were not equipped to parlay Karlsson's goals in to a win. The Sharks wasted no
time getting on the board, when Karlsson scored 20 seconds into the game. San
Jose collected the opening faceoff and carried the puck into the Winnipeg zone,
with Karlsson and Jacob Peterson trading the puck twice before the Swedish
defender snapped a shot past Connor Hellebuyck from the bottom of the right
circle.
Winnipeg answered 51 seconds later after Kevin Labanc was sent
off for holding at the 37 second mark. Pierre-Luc Dubois buried a Mark
Scheifele feed. Scheifele parked himself next to the left post before gathering
a Nikolaj Ehlers feed. He immediately sent the puck to the slot where Dubois
tapped it past James Reimer for his 27th goal of the season.
Adam
Lowry made it 2-1 Jets at 7:14, after Nino Niederreiter got a step on
defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov as he circled around the back of the net. Reimer was
knocked to the ice by Knyzhov who tried to catch Niederrreiter before the Jets
forward wrapped the puck around the left post to Lowry for the slam dunk goal.
Kyle Connor added a 3rd Winnipeg goal before the 1st intermission
after he tipped a shot by former Sharks defenseman Dylan Demelo. Connor was
positioned in the slot where he was able to get a stick blade on Demelo's shot
from the blueline.
Neither team could get a puck past Reimer or
Hellebuyck in the middle period although the Jets out-shot San Jose 10-9 in the
period. San Jose had the lone power play of the period after Connor was sent
off for holding at 12:59, but could not generate any serious scoring chances.
The Jets put the game away 16 seconds into the 3rd
period when Mason Appleton scored his 4th of the season.
Karlsson
scored his 2nd of the night on a power play chance after the Jets were called
for too many men. The defenseman snapped a shot from the top of the right
circle to make it a 4-2 game.
The Jets responded with a pair of goals
by Josh Morrissey and Scheifele. Morrissey cranked a shot from just inside the
left circle at 5:48, and Scheifele converted 6 seconds into a Jacob Peterson
delay of game penalty with a one time chance at 7:35,
Game
Notes: * Tristen Robins made his NHL debut for San Jose, wearing
#52. Robins hails from Brandon, Manitoba and had lots of family in the stands
for his 1st game in teal.
* With the secondary assist on Erik
Karlsson's 1st period goal, Logan Couture recorded his 700th career point. He
became the 4th Shark in franchise history to score 700+ points with the team,
joining Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.
* Marc-Edouard
Vlasic was scratched after suffering an injury against Edmonton on Saturday.
The Sharks announced that Vlasic will miss the remainder of the season.
* Erik Karlsson recorded his 24th goal of the season, which are
records for a defenseman over 32 years of age and for any Swedish defenseman.
* Former Sharks Joe Pavelski recorded his 1000th career NHL point when
he scored a goal for the Dallas Stars.
