San Jose Sharks sent to their 10th straight loss by hard-hitting Jets
SAN JOSE – It’s not a stretch to say the San Jose Sharks would like to model some parts of their game after the Winnipeg Jets.
A big, skilled, speedy team that pressures the puck all over the ice and finishes every check.
The Sharks got a big dose of that style of play Thursday in what turned into their 10th straight regulation-time loss.
The Jets, in between throwing their weight around, scored a power-play goal at the 3:14 mark of the third period to help earn a 2-1 win over the Sharks at SAP Center.
With Filip Zadina serving a hooking penalty, Gabriel Vilardi tapped a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers past Mackenzie Blackwood for the eventual game-winner.
Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks and Blackwood finished with 28 saves in an impressive individual performance.
The Sharks’ next game is Saturday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“We know the test we have in front of us,” Sharks coach David Quinn said before the game. “This is arguably one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the conference. The job that Rick’s done and the makeup of that team, I love that team. They check a lot of boxes to be successful in this league.
“They’re a hard team. They’re deep. They’ve got skill. They play together. They’re well coached. They’re a formidable foe for anybody.”
Barabanov and Winnipeg’s Morgan Barron both scored in the second period.
San Jose’s goal came at the 10:26 mark of the second, as William Eklund drove the puck deep into the Jets’ zone and dropped it back to Barabanov, who fired a shot past Connor Hellebuyck for his second goal in as many games.
The Jets got that goal back just 1:22 later, as Barron got a piece of the puck that was shot toward the Sharks’ net by defenseman Neal Pionk.
Blackwood was making his first start since Dec. 23 when he stopped 19 of 25 shots and was largely hung out to dry by his teammates in what turned into a 7-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Kaapo Kahkonen and Magnus Chrona combined to start the previous four games before Thursday, in which the Sharks were outscored 18-5, as Blackwood recovered from an illness.
Blackwood seemed like one of the few alert Sharks players in the first 10 minutes of the opening period, as San Jose had some puck management issues in its own end and was outshot 9-1 in the first six-plus minutes by the Jets and their swarming forecheck. Winnipeg had 10 scoring chances to San Jose’s four in the first period.
The Sharks finally created some scoring chances of their own in the last half of the first period, but Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck made six saves to help keep the game scores.
While the Sharks entered the game on a nine-game losing streak, the Jets had gone 7-0-2 since losing 2-1 at SAP Center on Dec. 12.
INJURY UPDATE: Kyle Burroughs was a scratch Thursday with Quinn saying the defenseman was dealing with a lower body injury and is day-to-day. Marc-Edouard Vlasic took Burroughs’ place as he drew into the lineup for just the third time in the last 12 games.
NOTE: Thursday’s announced attendance was 10,521, the fifth smallest out of 19 home games for the Sharks this season. The smallest crowd of the season remains for the Nov. 7 against the Philadelphia Flyers when the team announced that 10,074 tickets had been distributed.