Back in November, the Sharks traveled to
Seattle to play the Kraken, and ended up limping home after getting spanked 7-1
at Climate Change Arena. The Kraken made their first of two trips to SAP Center
on Tuesday night and the Sharks exacted a little revenge. Fueled by a 32 save
performance by goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, the Sharks held off a team on
the cusp of a wild card spot in a 2-0. The shutout was the first for the Sharks
this season.
Blackwood was calm and collected all night, which allowed
the Sharks to wait out a Kraken team that entered play just 2 points our of a
playoff spot. With 30ish games to play, these are the games that Seattle needed
if they want to seriously contend for a spot in the second season.
Shakir Mukhamadullin was called for a questionable tipping call 8:06 into the
contest to put the Kraken on the power play. San Jose's penalty kill did a nice
job of keeping the puck on the perimeter, and clogging up shooting lanes. What
was most notable was that all 4 defenders were on the ice for the full 2 minute
power play.
Seattle would out-shoot the Sharks 13-3 in the opening
period, but the deft penalty kill and solid play in net by Mackenzie Blackwood
kept the game scoreless.
Jamie Oleksiak hauled down Anthony Duclair at
9:25 of the middle frame, setting up the Sharks on the power play. It took 11
plus minutes and the man advantage for the Sharks to record their first shot of
the period.
Seattle would still hold a 19-8 edge in shots after
40 minutes, but neither team could get a puck over their opponent's goal line.
The Sharks would finally break the ice 7:27 into the 3rd period when
Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored his 4th goal of the season with a long shot from the
left side. Vlasic's shot appeared to clip Kraken Defenseman Justin Schultz's
jersey, which altered the trajectory of the shot to cross up goaltender Joey
Daccord.
William Eklund set the table for Vlasic by deeking several
Kraken defenders in order to gain the zone before the puck was eventually moved
to the Sharks defenseman.
Kraken head coach Dave Hekstol pulled
Daccord with just under 2 minutes to play. The Sharks haven't been very
effective at scoring on the empty net this season, but they took a couple of
cracks at shots that traversed the length of the ice.
Fabian
Zetterlund's chance clipped the right post, but didn't convert. Jan Rutta's
chance from behind the Sharks own end line sailed the distance and found twine
to put the game away.
Game Notes: * Jacob MacDonald
returned to the lineup after missing the last 15 games with a lower body
injury.
* The Sharks were without Tomas Hertl who is dealing with a
lower body issue. His status for the All Star Game is unknown.
*
Shakir Mukhamadullin continued to impress in his 2nd NHL game. The big
defenseman turned in a solid 22 minutes of ice time and change on 20 shifts. He
was credited with 3 of the Sharks 16 blocked shots in the game.
* Luke
Kunin took exception to a play by Will Borgen and engaged the defenseman 3:$5
into the 3rd period. The move may have jump started a Sharks offense that was
doing little up to that point.
* The Sharks travel to Southern
California for a quick turnaround as they will play the Anaheim Ducks on
Wednesday night. The team will then enjoy a 2-week break as they will not
resume play until February 14th.
