Sharks Offense Stays Hot Sinking Kraken 4-2

The San Jose Sharks ride their red-hot offense victory over the Seattle Kraken for the second time in as many nights. 

A win in Seattle marks the first time the Sharks have won consecutive games since Halloween when San Jose beat the Chicago Blackhawks after defeating the Los Angeles Kings and the Utah Hockey Club sparked by an improbable comeback for their first win of the season. 

There is a different feel to the style the Sharks are playing. Offensively, they have found a groove attacking more often with purpose and maintaining more pressure than we saw in their opening nine losses and practically all of last season. 

At 16:54 of the first period, Klim Kostin screened Joey Daccord allowing Mario Ferraro to shoot on net, deflecting the puck off defenseman Will Borgen into the net. San Jose took the spark that was Ferraro’s goal and made fire, scoring three times in the first 10 minutes of the second period. 

First, Luke Kunin fired a puck past Daccord’s blocker. Then, Jake Walman made an acrobatic pass to keep the puck in the offensive zone dumping it to Macklin Celebrini who fired the puck off the boards on the tape of Cody Ceci who punched in his first goal as a Shark. 46 seconds later, Granlund entered the Kraken zone on an odd man break dishing a beautiful saucer pass to Will Smith who buried it top shelf giving San Jose a 4-0 lead. 

In a game that was mostly positive, the Sharks showed aspects of their game that still need improvement. Letting teams respond after scoring a goal of their own has been a problem all season. Yesterday against the Kraken, the Sharks gave up two goals within a minute after scoring a goal, and they did it again tonight. 

32 seconds after Smith’s goal, Matty Beniers fired the puck off the boards finding Jaden Schwartz alone in the slot putting Seattle on the scoresheet. 

In the third period nursing a three goal lead, the Sharks looked flat footed allowing the Kraken to tilt the ice. At 6:27 of the third, Seattle’s point leader Jared McCann scored bringing the Kraken within two. 

Blackwood didn’t let the Kraken score again, partially thanks to an overturned goal with seven seconds left deemed goaltender interference, and even in a win there is a lot for the Sharks to improve on. Asking a goalie to stop close to 40 shots to win every night and letting the opponent answer within a minute of scoring a goal isn’t conducive to consistent success, but they are positively building an offensive identity and getting better each game. 

The Teen Titans Celebrini and Smith both extended their point streaks to four games, Kunin scored his fourth goal in his last eight games, Ferraro scored his second goal in three games, and Mikael Granlund's 2 assists puts him on pace for 88 points this year. 

Ceci not only scored his first goal as a Shark Saturday night, but it was the first road goal he’s scored since November 11, 2021. That has to feel good for the veteran defenseman. 

Goaltending was also strong tonight rebounding from poor performances from Vitek Vanecek and Blackwood they would both like to forget. Vanecek gave up 5 goals in yesterday’s win against Seattle and Blackwood gave up 4 goals on only 11 shots in a rough 4-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators. 

In Blackwood’s first start since his worst performance of the season, he showed razor sharp focus early, saving more shots (13) in the first period than he did in the entirety of his previous game. Blackwood backed San Jose's win by stopping 36 shots on 38 attempts being the brick wall San Jose needed when Seattle would tilt the ice in their favor. 

Earlier in the season, Sharks chat rooms were littered with talk about Will Smith needing AHL time amidst his struggles producing points, but the rookie has heated up scoring 3 goals and 7 points in his last four games. His recent play earned him the opportunity to play in his first back-to-back, rewarding coach Ryan Warsofsky’s faith in him by scoring a goal on a missile of a shot. 

Celebrini has catapulted himself into Calder contention as he entered tonight’s game leading all rookies with 0.93 points per game and added an assist against the Kraken. The first overall pick of the 2024 draft is third in points by a rookie trailing league leader Matvei Michkov of the Philadelphia Flyers by only 3 points in seven less games. Celebrini was an inch away from another point tonight when he hit the post in his first shift in the third. 

Defenseman Jake Walman added two assists tonight, making Sharks General Manager Mike Grier look like a genius stealing him and a second round pick from Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations. Walman’s value to the Sharks improvement this season cannot be understated. While Rutta, Ferraro, and Ceci have had their struggles defensively, Walman has held his own and is contributing offense night after night and is only 2 points shy of tying his career high in points he set last year with Detroit (21). Walman already has his career high in assists (15). 

The Sharks are streaking now as they head from Washington state to Washington, D.C. to play the Capitals on Tuesday, December 3. It feels like the first time in years San Jose has multiple guys riding hot streaks at the same time, making each viewing of the Sharks this season therapeutic. Each game that the Sharks show progress is a reminder that the franchise was at rock bottom last season, but now they are on the way up.