Game-changing moments lead to win
SAN JOSE » Rudolfs Balcers had just scored near the crease of the Winnipeg Jets when he fell on top of goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Two Jets players immediately went after Balcers before Tomas Hertl jumped in to help his teammate.
“I just tried to jump in and save his life,” Hertl said.
Hertl was given a roughing minor for his efforts and as he went to the penalty box, waved his arms in the air pro wrestler style to egg on an already boisterous crowd.
Yes, the good times were back inside SAP Center on Saturday as the San Jose Sharks hosted their first regular-season game without capacity restrictions in over 18 months. The rocking crowd, which was announced at 16,137, went home happy as Balcers’ goal at the 5:02 mark of the third period helped secure a season-opening 4-3 win.
Andrew Cogliano scored shorthanded and Jasper Weatherby and Hertl both scored on the power play as the Sharks opened the season with a regulationtime win for the first time since 2016.
“It was fun. It was a lot of fun,” Sharks defenseman Jake Middleton said. “The bench, the room at intermission, everything. A lot of fun.”
The Sharks now start a five-game road trip on Tuesday in Montreal.
“You couldn’t ask for a much better way to start the season,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said.
Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s game.
MOMENTUM SHIFT » The Sharks trailed 2-0 in the second period and were still searching for a spark when Logan Couture won
a faceoff deep in the defensive zone to start a penalty kill. He and Cogliano then broke out with possession before Cogliano came into the Winnipeg zone and fired a shot past Hellebuyck at the 3:38 mark of the second period.
The goal breathed new life into a Sharks team, and the fans in attendance, that had just given up a shorthanded goal to Andrew Copp on a miscommunication play between goalie Adin Hill and defenseman Erik Karlsson.
“There was no panic in our game after the first period when we’re down 2-0,” Boughner said. “We were doing some good things, we just weren’t executing.
“You can’t give a team like Winnipeg too many out-numbered rushes and we made bad decisions at the offensive blue line. We just talked about keeping
everything in front of us. We didn’t give a lot (in the second period) and we sort of got our game back.” STANDING UP FOR TEAMMATES » The Jets still led 2-1 midway through the second period when Jets center Adam Lowry checked Balcers face-first into the glass near center ice. A scrum ensued,
with a handful of Sharks players converging around Lowry to show their displeasure.
Then, Sharks defenseman Jake Middleton squared off with the 6-foot7, 228-pound Logan Stanley. Middleton, giving away four inches in height and close to 20 pounds, held his own against Stanley.
Then with Lowry serving a boarding penalty, Weatherby took a pass from Karlsson and beat Hellebuyck high to the glove side for his first NHL goal to the game.
Boughner has stressed the need for his players to stand up for each other right from the start of the season, and there were a few examples of that Saturday.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys and we’re not the biggest team up front, especially in the top six,” Hertl said. “So everybody just has to stick up and be there for each other.”
ROOKIE SHOW » The Sharks, for the first time in team history, started the season with six rookies on their active roster, and three made their NHL debuts on Saturday — William Eklund, Weatherby, and Jonathan Dahlen.
All made an impact.
Eklund was one of the Sharks’ most noticeable players early on and had the second assist on Hertl’s goal, on which Weatherby also had an assist, looking comfortable in his first pro game and Dahlen was in on a couple of scoring chances.
“All guys contributed tonight and it was nice to see, because you could tell there were some nerves early on with the young guys,” Boughner said. “I think these guys have continued just to get better as they get more comfortable in the league.
“Our veterans, just the bench was very cohesive tonight, together and very positive, helping the young guys out.”
HILL’S NIGHT » Hill had kind of an up-and-down night in his first Sharks start.
The Jets opened the scoring at the 4:20 mark of the first period. Brenden Dillon, in his first game back at SAP Center after he was traded by the Sharks to Washington in Feb. 2020, fired a puck on the net that was stopped by Hill. PierreLuc Dubois, though, was parked in front, fought off a check from Radim Simek, and tapped the puck past Hill for his first goal of the season.
Then a miscommunication between Hill and Karlsson proved costly.
The Sharks were on the power play and Karlsson went back deep inside his own zone to retrieve a puck that had been sent the length of the ice.
For some reason, Hill played the puck just as Karlsson was about to pick it up. The puck then went off Karlsson, was gathered by Lowry, and sent out front to Copp, who shot it past Hill at the 1:09 mark of the second.
Hill, though, rebounded to stop five more saves in the second period and six more in the third, finishing with 20.