The Sharks wrapped up their regular season
home schedule with one final tilt at SAP Center on Saturday night. They
rewarded their fans with much of the same bad hockey they played in the
previous 40 games on home ice this season. The Minnesota Wild piled on the
Sharks, taking a 6-2 decision before a rare sellout crowd.
For the
sellout crowd, it was a reminder that investing in season tickets for the
2024-25 season may be a bit premature. The Sharks have a long way to go in
their rebuild, and this season was full of lessons for many of the youngest
Sharks.
The Sharks won only 11 times on home ice this season. SAP
Center was once one of the toughest buildings in the NHL to play in. Not so
much these days.
Matt Boldy converted his 28th goal of the season 5:19
into the contest by throwing a put-back chance past Mackenzie Blackwood. Kapril
Kaprizov fired a shot on net that hit Blackwood and kicked out to the bottom of
the right circle where Boldy was lurking. Shark defenseman Mario Ferraro
couldn't react quick enough to get in front of the Boldy return attempt after
getting caught with his back to the Wild forward.
Jan Rutta knotted
the game at 1-1 more than 4 minutes later with a blast from the blueline. The
defenseman's shot clipped a Wild defender in the slot, changing the trajectory
of the shot on Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt. The goal was Rutta's 5th of
the season.
Declan Chisholm helped Minnesota regain the lead with 3:09
left in the period. The Wild defenseman fired a shot from the left side that
weaved through several bodies in front of the net. Blackwood was late to find
it, giving Chisholm his 3rd tally of the season.
Liam Ohgren scored his 1st NHL goal 14 minutes into
the 2nd period. The rookie Swede was trailing through the slot when Jonas
Brodin tried putting a shot past Blackwood from in tight. The rebound kicked
back out to the spot being occupied by Ohgren for a 10-foot put back chance to
make it a 3-1 game.
Mario Ferraro answered 89 seconds later with a
blast from the slot after he trailed William Eklund and Mikael Granlund as they
entered the Wild zone. Granlund slid the puck to his left where Eklund was able
to gather it and drip it back to Ferraro for the one-time blast.
The
Karil Kaprizov show took over from there.
The Wild forward single
handedly put the game out of reach while closing out the period. Kaprizov fired
a shot from the left point at 19:04 that hit Blackwood, bounced off the left
post, then returned to hit Blackwood a second time before skipping across the
goals line.
Fabian Zetterlund took a high sticking penalty with 37
seconds remaining in the period, which allowed Kaprizov to score his second
goal in the final minute of the period. Joel Ericksson-Ek was navigating behind
the Sharks net on the power play when he spotted Kaprizov all by his lonesome
in front of the Sharks net. A quick feed and one-time chance made it a 5-2 game
just 8.3 seconds before the 2nd intermission.
The Sharks did little in
terms of making any adjustments during that intermission break, because the
Wild opened the 3rd period with their 6th goal of the game just 1:46 into the
final frame. Marcus Johansson bagged his 11th of the season to make it a 4-goal
lead.
San Jose would do little to generate much offense in the 3rd
period. They would be out-shot 12-8 in the period and 38-29 for the game.
Game Notes: * Mario Ferraro was voted as the Sharks
Media Good Guy by Bay Area media representatives. The award is presented
annually to the player who handles his media responsibilities with cooperation,
honesty and thoughtfulness, and answers the bell no matter the outcome or
situation.
* With the secondary assist on the Rutta goal, Mikael
Granlund has extended his point streak to 11 games. He also has points in 15 of
his last 16 games and 19 of his last 21 games.
* Will Smith was voted
as Sharks Top Prospect. The 2023 3rd overall selection lost in the NCAA
National Championship Game on Saturday, as Boston College lost to the
University of Denver 2-0. Smith led the NCAA with 71 points and 46 assists as a
freshman. He was named to the Hockey East First All-Star Team, earned Hockey
East Tournament MVP honors and was tabbed for the Frozen Four All-Tournament
Team.
* The Sharks announced that 555,934 tickets were issued this
season for an average of 13,559 per game. That is a decrease from the 2022-23's
average of 13,988 tickets per game.
* In what was likely to be Kevin
Labanc's last game as a Shark, the forward skated 12:09 of ice time on 15
shifts and was a -2, recording a single shot on goal and 3 hits.
