Sharks’ second period lapses costly in latest loss before sparse crowd; Scout talks Jack Thompson
SAN JOSE – Thomas Bordeleau scored in his return to the NHL but the San Jose Sharks could not slow down the New York Islanders, who scored four second-period goals on their way to a 7-2 win at SAP Center on Thursday.
The Sharks trailed 3-2 after forward Mike Hoffman scored his 10th goal of the season at the 11:49 mark of the second period. But the Islanders took over from there, as Kyle MacLean, Mathew Barzal and Sebastian Aho all scored in a span of 4:21 to help hand the Sharks their ninth straight loss.
Sharks starting goalie Magnus Chrona, coming off a 36-save performance against the Dallas Stars last weekend, allowed six goals on the first 23 shots he faced. But the Sharks skaters did not do much to help him, as turnovers and perhaps some shoddy backchecking and play in front of their net contributed to the lopsided loss.
Bordeleau’s goal was his second of the season for the Sharks. On a San Jose power play, a pass from William Eklund to the front of the Islanders’ net went off Bordeleau’s skate and past goalie Ilya Sorokin at the 2:45 mark of the second period.
Bordeleau was recalled from the Barracuda on Wednesday to provide some needed reinforcements.
Roughly 90 minutes before the start of Thursday’s game, the Sharks announced they had traded forward Anthony Duclair and a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for AHL defenseman Jack Thompson and a 2024 third-round pick.
Alexander Barabanov, who, like Duclair, is a pending unrestricted free agent, was scratched from the Sharks’ lineup Thursday as a precaution against injury. Barabanov is among a handful of Sharks players who could be on the move before the NHL trade deadline on Friday at noon (PST).
The Sharks allowed goals to Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov in the opening 18:31 of the first. Dobson’s goal came on the first shot of the game, as he fed the puck toward the net before it went off Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs and past Chrona.
The announced crowd for Thursday’s game was 10,077 – the second-smallest of the season at SAP Center after 10,070 tickets were distributed for Tuesday’s home game against the Dallas Stars.
The Sharks finish their three-game homestand Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.
THOMPSON UPDATE: Thompson, 21, has played most of this season with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. He will report to the Barracuda, who play in Cedar Park against the Texas Stars on Friday and Saturday.
This season, Thompson had 32 points in 46 games for Syracuse and made his NHL debut with Tampa Bay on Jan. 6. He was a late addition to the AHL All-Star Classic last month at Tech CU Arena.
Over two AHL seasons, Thompson, listed at 6-foot-1 and 187 pounds, has 56 points, including 43 assists, in 118 games.
One Eastern Conference scout told this news organization that Thompson is considered “a good prospect.”
He’s a “smart, puck-moving d-man. Can quarterback a power play, skates well. Lacks a little size, but makes up for it with skill. Has been very good at the AHL level.”
The Athletic recently rated Thompson as the Lightning’s third best prospect, and Tampa Bay’s prospect pool as the 29th-best in the NHL. The Sharks’ prospect pool was ranked fourth-best in the NHL.