Saturday afternoon’s game marked a special occasion for the San Jose Sharks. It was the debut of their most recent acquisition, 21-year-old Collin Graf. The former member of the NCAA’s Quinnipiac Bobcats signed with the Sharks on Thursday (April 4) and immediately joined the team. A part of the reason he picked the Sharks over the multitude of other teams gunning for his services was immediate NHL playing time and general manager Mike Grier made sure he was a man of his word.
Although Graf didn’t play the day he signed when the Sharks hosted the rival Los Angeles Kings, head coach David Quinn got him into the lineup as soon as he could. Meanwhile, their opposition, the St. Louis Blues were fighting to stay alive in the playoff race as the Nashville Predators and Kings were pulling away in the wild card standings.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Sharks faced off against the Arizona Coyotes in a matchup of two teams well outside of the playoff picture who were trying to end their season on a high note.
Addison’s Strange Ejections
As the first period was drawing to a close, the Sharks had just killed off a penalty. Fabian Zetterlund had just gotten out of the box for hooking Brayden Schenn. A couple of minutes later, the Sharks went shorthanded once again, this time for the remainder of the game. Calen Addison originally took a two-minute penalty for cross-checking Nathan Walker, and it was immediately clear that he disagreed with the call, slamming his stick into the glass in frustration.
As Addison skated toward the penalty box, it seemed like he said something to either linesman Caleb Apperson or referee Kyle Rehman that Rehman didn’t like. On top of his two-minute minor for cross-checking, Addison was also assessed a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, a 10-minute misconduct, and a game misconduct. As a result, the Sharks had to either run with only five defensemen or move Jacob MacDonald from forward back to the blue line and run with 11 forwards for the rest of the night. MacDonald’s adaptability gave them a choice most teams aren’t lucky enough to have, but it was still a far from ideal situation.
Now, the weirdest part of this story. He didn’t get ejected just once this week, it happened again late in the third period on Sunday. With eight minutes remaining in regulation, he was handed another ten-minute misconduct this time for an undisclosed reason. After the game, the media requested to speak to Addison to get clarity on the situation but were advised that he was unavailable for comment.
Kunin Sparks Team, Eklund Responds
At the start of the second period, the Sharks had been outplayed by the Blues and needed a spark. It took until halfway through the period but it eventually came. Luke Kunin laid a massive hit on Jake Neighbours and a fight between Kunin and Justin Faulk followed. Kunin’s main goal was to bring some energy to his team, however, Faulk getting an instigator penalty didn’t hurt either. Now, the Sharks had a spark and a power play halfway through the second period.
The Sharks’ power play had one previous opportunity in which they failed to convert, and their penalty kill had held strong despite some heavy pressure in the first period. However, once Kunin and Faulk went to their respective penalty boxes, things changed for the Sharks’ power play. They had more confidence and William Eklund ripped a one-timer past Joel Hofer who was in between the pipes for the Blues. Eklund wasn’t done though. After the power play ended due to the goal, the Sharks quickly got another man advantage as Walker was called for interference against Jack Studnicka. The Sharks maintained heavy pressure, and a scramble in front of the net resulted in an off-balance shot by Thomas Bordeleau. The rebound went directly to Eklund who put it in the back of the net, and the Sharks led 2-0.
Eklund’s best night of his career wasn’t over yet though. The Blues tied it up in the third period, sending the game to overtime. As if it were the end of a Disney movie, Eklund had a 2-on-1 in overtime and as he said after the game, he was shooting it all the way. The shot beat Hofer, and the Swedish forward scored his first career hat trick on the Sharks’ straw hat giveaway night.
Cooley’s First Win
The story of Devin Cooley has been a heartwarming one in a season full of disappointments for the Sharks. The Los Gatos, California native was acquired at the trade deadline to back up Mackenzie Blackwood for the remainder of the season while another new acquisition, Vitek Vanecek, recovers from injury. The first two games of Cooley’s NHL career didn’t go to plan, losing both games against the Chicago Blackhawks. The same outcome nearly happened on Saturday as well, and after the game, Cooley spoke about how he certainly got a feeling of “Oh no, here we go again”.
However, Eklund’s game-winning goal gave the goaltender his first career NHL win in front of his friends and family who were there to support him. He played a very strong game, especially early on when the Blues were heavily in control of the game. If he can have another performance like that, he may be able to find a way to work himself into the team’s future plans.
Graf’s Debut Performances
In his first game, Graf started alongside the hat trick hero William Eklund and Luke Kunin. Things changed throughout the game as he ended up spending some shifts alongside Nico Strum and Thomas Bordeleau as well, while also earning some time on the second power-play unit. He had a fairly strong performance, and his confidence visibly grew as the night went on. He failed to record a point in his first outing, but it was certainly the type of performance he could build on moving forward. He didn’t have to wait long either, as he played the next night against the Coyotes alongside Justin Bailey and Kunin to start the night. Once again, things changed a bit as the game went on. During the second period, Graf started playing with Kunin and Bordeleau and it immediately paid off. Kunin threw a hard hit along the boards, then a few seconds later put the puck in the back of the net. On the play, Graf recorded his first career point, a secondary assist.
Henry Thrun’s Roller Coaster
The first five minutes of the game against the Coyotes were wild for Henry Thrun. He took a pointless delay of game penalty, which gave the Coyotes their first power play of the night. They converted on it, when Lawson Crouse found the back of the net. The Coyotes then took a penalty of their own when Travis Dermott was called for interfering with Bordeleau. Thrun, who was on the Sharks’ first power-play unit, scored from the point to make up for his previous error and tied the game at one. All of this happened within the first five minutes of the game, not to mention a couple of minutes later he drew a penalty when he got elbowed by Crouse. While his night would calm down a little bit, he had another noteworthy moment in the game when he assisted on Kunin’s goal in the second period.
Tough Night for Blackwood
Even though the Sharks were tied with the Coyotes for the majority of the night, it was one of the rare occasions where Blackwood wasn’t the best player on the ice. He had some goals he’d certainly want back; allowing four goals on 28 shots is certainly less than ideal. The Coyotes added a fifth on an empty net goal. Some goals weren’t really his fault, such as the second goal which saw the puck land right in front of the goal line. No matter what Blackwood did, if he touched the puck it was likely to cross the line if he could even tell where it was, which was unlikely. It was a rare difficult night for the Sharks’ starting goaltender, but they’re bound to happen over the course of a long season. The Coyotes walked away with a 5-2 victory in San Jose.
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The Sharks had a weekend full of ups and downs, the adrenaline and energy from the game on Saturday didn’t carry over to the second game of the back-to-back but they were able to keep it close for a majority of the night against a rested opponent. They’ll look to bounce back and finish the campaign strong as they enter the final week and a half of the season.