Kahkonen shines, but offense dries up in loss against Panthers
San Jose Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen had another strong start Thursday but didn't get the type of offensive support necessary to earn a third straight victory.
Kahkonen finished with 35 saves but the Sharks managed only a first-period goal from Alexander Barabanov in a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena.
Down by a goal late in the third period, the Sharks couldn't capitalize on a four-minute man advantage after Aaron Ekblad was handed a double-minor for high-sticking with 4:52 left in regulation time.
The Sharks had three shots on the power play, as both Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture had opportunities from close range, but were denied by Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who finished with 33 saves.
The Sharks went 0-for-3 on the power play for the game.
“We had some good looks after the faceoff, couple good looks, a couple of rebounds,” Hertl said. “We should probably get it in. (After) it just looked like we didn't get on the same page.”
Eric Staal scored two empty-net goals with less than two minutes left in regulation time to help seal the win for the Panthers, who swept the season series with the Sharks after they won 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 3 in San Jose.
Kahkonen and the Sharks allowed two second-period goals to Sam Reinhart, including a backbreaking one with just 40 seconds left before intermission that gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead.
Kahkonen had made a combined 71 saves in Sharks wins over Pittsburgh on Jan. 28 and
Tampa Bay on Tuesday, giving him back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Barabanov's goal came at the 5:49 mark of the first period, as he collected a rebound off a shot toward the net by Erik Karlsson and beat Bobrovsky for his eighth goal of the season and fifth point in the last three games.
The assist gave Karlsson 70 points on the season, as he became just the fourth defenseman in NHL history to reach 70 in 53 or fewer games, joining Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, and Denis Potvin on that list.
The Panthers scored the next two goals, both by Reinhart.
On a Sharks change, Reinhart took a long pass from Marc Staal, entered
the San Jose zone unencumbered, and fired a wrist shot that beat Kahkonen low to the glove side to tie the game at the 4:30 mark of the second period.
Then after a failed clearing attempt by Karlsson inside the Sharks' zone, the puck found its way to Eetu Luostarinen, who sent a puck toward the net that Reinhart redirected past Kahkonen for his 19th goal of the season with 40 seconds left before intermission.
GETTING DEFENSIVE >> With Radim Simek still not able to come off injured reserve, the Sharks recalled Nick Cicek from the Barracuda to give them a seventh defenseman for at least the remainder of the road trip.
Simek, on IR since early January with a concussion, is on the Sharks' road trip, is skating with the team, and has been feeling good, Sharks coach David Quinn said, but is not ready to be activated just yet.
“It's really day-to-day with him,” Quinn said of Simek.
The Sharks finish the road trip on Sunday in Washington and host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
KNYZHOV'S FUTURE >> Defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov, who came off a long-term injury conditioning loan in the AHL on Sunday before he was reassigned back to the Barracuda, will be given more time at the minor league level to continue to build up his strength and conditioning.
Knyzhov played three games with the Barracuda from Jan. 25 to Feb. 3 and had a +1 rating and four shots on net. The Barracuda host the Calgary Wranglers on Friday and Saturday and the Ontario Reign next Wednesday.
“We just want to continue to see how he does (in the AHL), give him some more games,” Quinn said. “Obviously, he's missed an awful lot of hockey over the last two years, so we want to make sure we go about this in the right way and at the right pace.”