Sharks collapse in unfathomable fashion to suffer loss to Carolina
Hurricanes score twice in final 1:37 of regulation, send game to overtime
The San Jose Sharks allowed the game-tying and game-winning goals to Martin Necas in a somewhat unfathomable 5-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
Leading 4-2 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation time, the Sharks allowed a goal to Sebastian Aho at the 18:23 mark of the third, and one to Necas with 11.5 seconds left that tied the game.
Necas then scored just 55 seconds into overtime as the Sharks turned a nearcertain victory into another gut-wrenching defeat.
Mikey Eyssimont assisted on Nick Bonino’s game-tying goal early in the third period and scored with 8:45 left in regulation time as the Sharks took a 3-2 lead. Ferraro’s emptynet goal came with 1:52 left in the third period.
Oskar Lindblom and Mario Ferraro also scored and James Reimer finished with 31 saves as the Sharks fell to 0-2-2 on a five-game road trip that ends Saturday in Pittsburgh.
On Eyssimont’s goal, he took a pass from Nico Sturm along the boards, took a stride toward the middle of the ice, and beat Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta for his first goal in a San Jose uniform.
Eyssimont now has a goal and three assists in nine games with the Sharks since he was acquired on waivers by the team earlier this month. He had five points in 20 career games with the Winnipeg Jets.
Lindblom scored his fifth of the season at the 15:10 mark of the first period, redirecting an Evgeny Svechnikov shot past Carolina goalie Antti Raanta as the Sharks took a 1-0 lead.
After consecutive goals by the Hurricanes, including
Sebastian Aho’s power play marker 17 seconds into the third period, the Sharks tied the game with 13:10 left in regulation time.
Nick Bonino took a pass from Eyssimont, got in alone on Raanta, and beat him from close range above the glove for his ninth goal of the season.
The Sharks entered Friday 5-6-10 in one-goal games this season, including a 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. The Sharks began the road trip with a 5-3 loss to Columbus last Saturday and a 4-0 loss to Boston the next day. VLASIC OUT >> Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was scratched from Friday’s game as he missed his first game this season. Sharks coach David Quinn said Friday morning that some of his defensemen were under the weather. Vlasic had 12 points in 49 games before Friday as he averaged just over 18 minutes of ice time per game.
NEW DEFENSEMAN >> With Vlasic out, Jacob MacDonald, two days after he was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche, played his first game with Sharks as he was paired with Mario Ferraro.
“Just a two-way defenseman that can join in and contribute offensively,” MacDonald said of his style. “Steady in the D-zone and able to make a good first pass and hopefully get in and out of our D-zone pretty quickly. From time to time, there’s a little bit of physicality in there, too.”
MacDonald, 29, and forward Martin Kaut, 23, were acquired by the Sharks on Wednesday for forward Matt Nieto and defenseman Ryan Merkley.
In the first two periods, MacDonald had 10:45 of ice time and was credited with a blocked shot, a hit and a shot on goal.
“Just the first thing I thought of was just being excited for the opportunity to come here,” said MacDonald, who also knows Mikey Eyssimont and Nico Sturm on the Sharks’ roster, “and then play and kind of show what I can do.”