Sharks 2nd Line EXPLODES with Eklund, Wennberg, and Kurashev LEADING Convincing Victory Over Devils

Sharks 2nd Line EXPLODES with Eklund, Wennberg, and Kurashev LEADING Convincing Victory Over Devils

A convincing win in this economy. You’re Locked on Sharks, your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello, welcome to Locked On Sharks, the premier hockey podcast covering your favorite team in the Bay Area. My name is JD. I’m caretaker at the reef. Also the co-host of Locked on NHL. I want to thank you for making locked on Sharks your first listen. Proudly part of the locked on network. We cover your team every day. And if you want to be an everyday all you have to do just follow along wherever you get podcast and of course you can watch on YouTube as well. And today we’ll be breaking down the Sharks convincing. Oh my goodness. Convincing 5 to2 win over the New Jersey Devils. one of the best teams in the NHL. Uh so we’ll be talking about how the Sharks were able to pull this off, lessons they learned from the last time these two teams played. Um the defense like playing well, including young Sam Dickinson if he’s potentially sticking around now. Um Demetri Or also really settling into his role. We’ll dig into the numbers of this game which look a little bit ugly, but the Sharks were actually in a position where they could park the bus. for an entire period. So, we’ll break it all down here. Uh before we get to that all that, do want to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. So, I I have to start with the lessons learned in this game, right? Because I mean, we we’ve seen the Sharks jump out to leads before. Uh, and we’ve seen them blow several leads, a lot, way too many leads. But, um, I think my my main takeaway from this game is the Sharks are starting to learn how to win and when to take advantage of their opportunities. We know this offense is is going to have plenty of moments, right? Um, but this is a team, I think, that’s starting to take advantage of their opportunities. And I want to talk about the second period because the Sharks were where it looked very much like what we saw last week when these two teams played, right? Where um the Devils just kind of controlling the pace of play, keeping the puck in their the offensive zone and the Sharks just unable to generate any offense. And granted, the Sharks did generate a little bit of offense in in in the second period, but it it was all Devils, right? Devils. It looked like they were going to start to kind of work their way back into this game. you know, it was three to one. You were kind of waiting for that next goal. Uh because if the Devils got with it got it to three to two, we we’ve all seen this story before, right? But the Sharks with a about five minutes to play in the second period started to string some shifts together. And this is where the game changed here is they were able to string some shifts together and get those two goals and put this game away. Uh if you’re watching on YouTube, I’ll pull up the the shot chart uh from so uh Natural Sector, they do this kind of rolling uh shot attempts. They’re rolling Corsy, right, at five on five. Um and basically like the Sharks are are coming out of the first period, right? They they’re taking more shots. They’re generating more offense. This is is their like they’re controlling the pace of play, but you see the Devils kind of chip chip chip chip chip away and take, you know, basically all through the second period. But that last five minutes, this is where the game changed is the Sharks were able to even for five minutes, right? They’re able to wrestle away, generate a bunch of shot attempts, get those two goals and get back up five to one and then you could then you could park the bus, right? And yes, like when we you know, we’ll talk about it more, but like the the Devils, you know, of course, like you’re up by four goals. the Devils uh really kind of just, you know, they were trying to get shots, but the defense was playing too well and that Nelkovich was playing uh was playing great tonight as well. So, um that moment right there of of taking advantage, that kind of counter punch, um that’s a a big kind of step for this team. And they’re not going to be able to do this every night, right? And I I still think this team’s path to success is being a puck controlling, generate offense, and just continue to try to score, outscore your problems because I don’t think the defense is going to play this well every night. And like this this team is going to let in some soft goals as we’ve seen all throughout the year. But tonight, it was it was just nice to see them really kind of put together a a game plan and a formula and then execute said game plan. Uh right, it’s easy to talk about like, hey, this is what we want to do, but actually to go out and execute it, uh the Sharks did it tonight. And I I think you know it was a team effort like everybody pitched in but that second line has been absolutely on fire lately. And again tonight, Wenberg, Ekkan, Kurichev, um they won uh this game because of all three of those guys each had a goal. Wenberg a goal and an assist. Ekkund starts the game out with a goal early on. One to get the Sharks up, right? because that’s always that’s the Sharks need to, you know, try to hold on to leads more. But Ecklund, who’s been on fire, nine points in his last five games, four goals, five assists, but this second line has really started to gel and started to give the Sharks um more and more juice, right? And so it’s not just Celabbrini Smith, you know, and like Celebr had a pretty quiet night except for that five minutes, right? where he was a big part of that and he had a great assist on Will Smith’s goal there. Um, but the Sharks being able to generate offense from other than Celibbrini is a big reason why this team is starting to put things together. And over the last five games, they were three and two, right? Yes, two of those are overtime wins. Um, but they’re three and two with a plus two goal differential. like they’re not getting blown out. You know, their losses or the three to one loss against the Devils last week that included an empty netter and then a 4-3 loss to the the Kings that they should have won that game, right? Like they did everything but win that game essentially. The team is starting to figure out and I know a lot of there was a lot of naysayers at the beginning of the season. Oh my god, this team is worse than last year, etc., etc. And I said like be patient. You have so many new faces coming in. um you know especially along the blue line right four new bliners um between you know uh Dickinson um Clingberg or then Nick Lei um like and then now you throw in Iorio there’s just a lot of moving pieces here and they’re starting to kind of figure things out and everyone’s kind of starting to figure out what their role is and what their expectations and stuff and yes they’re like you’re you’re still going to have like they have a tough weekend this weekend, right? You play the ABS who are an absolute menace and then you play Detroit who’s a very good team as well and has has started the season really well. And you know, like if you can squeak out, if you can get a win out of there and just and continue to build and be a competitive team night in night out, I think it’s very fair to say that this team is better than than the rendition we got last year. And I I think that hopefully the early season woes and you know miscues and stuff like you’re seeing less and less of those and this team is starting to to kind of figure out its identity and hopefully start to kind of win some more games here. Again, this isn’t a playoff team in any stretch and stuff and I think most fans would recognize that, but you’re starting to see the glimpses of what this team will eventually be, right? The offense is going to be the big part of this team, especially young as a young team. Like, they’re going to have to outscore a lot of their problems, but this team is putting up a lot of points and they’re, like I said, they’re getting it from a lot of different contributors. Both big-time contributors, right? Cabbrini, who’s, you know, I think it’s a six game point streak for him right now. Um, you know, Will Smith with another goal tonight. Um, Ekkan, who is, you know, seventh overall pick. we just mentioned he’s got nine points in his last five games. Um, you know, like you’re you’re getting contributions from all your big names, but then you’re starting to see guys like Kurichev who’s been on a tear lately, Wenberg who’s starting to score more, and like you’re seeing, you know, Dimmitri Orof, who’s basically a point per game player, um, has like you’re you’re getting contributions from guys who maybe you didn’t expect to get a ton of contributions from, um, as well. So yeah, like great win tonight. Very convincing win. I I think this is one of those kind of I don’t want to say statement games, but this is one of those games where you can kind of hang your hat on as like this is how the Sharks want to play. Think plenty of things to clean up, right? The PK was a disaster, etc., etc., but you’re starting to see how this team wants to play, right? Uh big, fast, aggressive. you start to kind of see this that that identity start to build and get put together here. So, uh really happy with the way they played tonight. So, uh and and one of the big reasons tonight was the defense. So, we’re going to talk about the defense, talk about Dimmitri Orof, who’s really settled into his role, uh and was an absolute menace tonight in the best way possible. Uh Muka Mcdulan’s return. We’re going to talk about Dickinson. We’re going to be talking about all the guys here uh in just one second. Hockey season is officially here and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. But let’s be real, getting tickets can be a total headache between waiting and cues, surprise fees, and prices that jump right before checkout. Is easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is chew on your team. That’s where Game Time comes in. The app that gives fans the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NHL tickets fast, easy, and stressfree. Um, you can use game time for this weekend, right? You, the ABS are in town, the Red Wings are in town. Uh, you got a nice afternoon game. Like, I expect the SAP Center to be rocking on Saturday afternoon. Uh, you should be, this is a fun team, guys. You should be going to the Sharks games as often as you can. Um, but they have, uh, zone deals are a game changer. You can pick your seat, your section, and Game Time picks your seats. You can save big. You can even find NHL tickets for under 25 bucks. Take the guess work out of buying NHL game tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. That’s code locked on NHL. L O C D O NHL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. All right, before we continue, do of course want to thank you for making Locked on Sharks your first listen. Uh, if you haven’t yet, perfect time to subscribe as well reactions after every game. Uh, plus we’ll be getting you ready for every game with a nice kind of 10-minute YouTube exclusive video. Uh, and then covering the best prospect pool. We’ll have Barracuda stuff, uh, and interviews coming as well. So, make sure you follow along wherever you get podcasts. And of course you can watch on YouTube as well the defense and again defense is for nerds. Go score goals. Uh they did that right. They they scored two goals uh when they needed it and then you can sit back and and hang out. And um credit to to the defense tonight. I I think was uh one of their best games uh when it came to kind of structure and and limiting um what you know what the the Devils wanted to do tonight. And tonight we had Shakir Muk Madulan return. He was paired with with Dickinson. We’ll get to that. I want to start with Demetri Orlov who big question this off seasonason right when the Sharks signed him was can he be the guy for San Jose right he’s never had to be the defensive like leader on the team um you know and kind of take on those tough minutes take on this tough assignments and Olaf has really settled into his role with the Sharks here I I think beginning the year he had a couple games you know uh tough games in the preseason and stuff but He’s really, I think, kind of figuring out what his role is and what he’s supposed to do with with San Jose. And tonight was an absolute menace for the Devils. Uh I know he had an elbow in penalty there, but like he was uh physical. Uh he was assertive. Like he was a big reason to kind of like the Sharks were shutting down um what the Devils were doing. And I think so like so far so good with with Dmitri Orlav and uh what he is expected to provide with the Sharks. Like again little bit of a rough start to start the season, but you can definitely see over the past couple weeks he’s a big reason like why the de I think the defense is going to start to take a turn around here especially with some of the additions and names coming back from uh being injured and some of the guys who are not playing right now. whatever combination that is. But, uh, Orlav is a guy who should be like I, you know, needs to be here, needs to continue to do what he’s doing. And I I think tonight was a perfect example of what Orlov can bring. Like, and you’ve seen Lilligrin, too. Like, uh, Lilligrin, I thought, had an excellent night tonight as well. Uh, he was like all over the ice. He was also physical. um you know had was jumping into the offense when uh warranted like if the Sharks defenders can play like that you’re going to start to see things continue to turn around for for them. Uh Clingberg I thought was a little okay. He had some bad turnovers and I you wonder with him like he had a couple good shifts here and there but like he has some bad turnovers especially behind the net. um still going to give him a little bit of a leeway as he’s kind of working back from his injury and stuff, but uh you know, etc., etc. Ferraro was good. Like I thought all the defenders were were were good tonight and then the return of Moo Mullan uh was huge for the Sharks and I know the PK would gave up two as well tonight and the PK is that like that’s that’s the next bugaboo, right? is the Sharks have to try to figure out this penalty kill because you can’t be at like 65% or whatever they’re at right now. Actually, I think it’s like 63%, but you you can’t be that bad. Uh you have to try to figure this out. But I think Mukuman’s return to the penalty kill will help eventually help kind of get that thing better because he just provides a little bit different uh play style, right? where he’s big and he’s rangy, but he’s also physical enough where he can move guys out of the way in front of the net. Um, and like I mean granted and you know both the the goals coming on the penalty kill like it’s you know Mercer you know uh getting some redlections and stuff there like not too much Nadelovic can can do there but this PK is an absolute has been an absolute mess all season and the Sharks really needed to clean it up. But anyway, with Muk Magdullan, um him paired with Dickinson I thought was uh really good pairing, really smart pairing for them because you can see these two guys playing together long term actually. Uh Muk Mullan who can you know play on both sides played on his right side tonight. Uh he’s he’s done it and he’s looked really good playing on his right side as well. I think getting Muk Madulan back and as well as having Orlav growing into his role and kind of fitting his role, I I think you you can start to kind of pencil in or or at least in ink like, okay, this guy here, this guy here, and and and try to as you’re trying to figure out which combinations of guys work together and stuff. So, um, as for Sam Dickson, I like you, the nice thing when you have a a big lead like this because the Sharks haven’t had moments like this where they’ve been able to, uh, you know, play with a lead and and kind of get Dickinson out there. You know, he played 1423 tonight, had 15 shifts. Um, did have a plus one. Not that plus minus means anything. uh like he was out there like he did not I was hoping he would get his first point tonight, but um I think he continues to play well and continues. Yes, he’s gonna have some mistakes. Um but I think you’re seeing less of the catastrophic ones. Um we don’t have a decision. Uh you know, I don’t think the Sharks are going to say anything yet. We’ll pro we’ll know uh on on Friday because the Sharks do have practice. So, I assume uh he’s going to be uh you know, we we’ll know if he’s at practice or not, basically. But, uh when Worski didn’t say anything uh regarding uh Sam Dickinson, uh but he did say I think Curtis Pashelka said with a smile, uh you know, nothing yet, but had a little bit of a smile on it. So, we’ll we’ll see. We shall see. I still think he stays. Like I I think like he’s done. Yeah. Worowski asked if he’s willing to share good news about Dickinson keeping him on the roster. No, not yet. He said with a smile. So, um yeah, we’ll we’ll know on Friday what what Dickinson’s plans are. So, I still think the Sharks should keep him. I I you know going back to London um they talked about on the broadcast too and I’ve mentioned it a bunch of times like you just worry about instilling some of those bad habits especially uh as a big fish in a small pond with with with Dickinson where he’s going to chase points he’s going to you know be asked to kind of play a much different role which is fine but I think if you want Dickinson to be a better defenseman because you know the offense will come like the offense is going to come for Dickinson, but he’s setting the foundation by playing solid defense. And then once he gets kind of comfortable with it, you’ll see the offense start to come. We saw this with Muk Magdullan um as well, especially in the AHL last year where like Muk Mullan started the the season really slow offensively because he was trying to kind of iron out his defensive game. Um, and then Muk Mullan has been a a pretty solid offensive producer for the Sharks when he’s in the lineup. So, um, yeah, I think Dickinson will will I’m hoping he stays. I like I get it if you send him back, but I just think you’re you’re kind of wasting everybody’s time if you send him back to be honest. So, uh, but we’ll know more. We’ll know more soon. So, uh, we’re going to dig into the numbers of this game. Uh, talk about how the Sharks were able to to get to this three nothing lead. um and you know be able to afford themselves a nice easy third period. Uh so we’ll dig into the numbers here in just one second. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. So, even if you miss the start of the game or just want to ride a hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything uh from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. Gets even every sorry, it makes every game more exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fangel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, before we finish up, do of course want to thank you for making a lock on Sharks your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the allnew locked on NHL game night. Every game, every night until a Stanley Cup champion is crowned, get local analysis on a national scale. Find NHL Game Night on Locked on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. All right. Uh let’s finish this up by looking at the numbers of this game. So, uh 52 and a half minutes of five on five. Uh again, the the numbers are going to be a little bit more skewed Devils wise because the third period, and we’ll talk about that here in a little, you know, in a minute. But um 58 to 42 shot attempts in favor of the Devils. 58 to 42% of course C4 makes it nice and easy there. Um actual shots on goal 27 to 24 in favor of the Devils. This is all at five on five just as a reminder. Scoring chances though 24-6 favor of the Sharks 11 to9 high danger chances in favor of the Sharks 2.02 to 1.86 86 expected goals for uh in favor of the Sharks. So um while the Devils outshot and the the Sharks, the Sharks did all their heavy damage in the first two periods, right? Um the Shot attempts were 20. So there uh 39 to 34 uh in favor of the Sharks in the first two periods. uh the actual shots 42 sorry I’m trying to do math live 24-9 um in in favor of San Jose like scoring chances 23-2 uh like the Sharks again didn’t get like the third period they they could just sit back because they didn’t you know you have a threegoal lead or four goal lead at one point three goals for most of it um and they could actually just focus on playing defense. Um, which is something they haven’t really had to do a lot recently. So, it was it was a nice world to live in to just kind of sit back and enjoy a a period with your team uh leading. So, um, as for the Lions, of course, Misa sat out, so Patrick Giles jumped in as well. Brian Reeves did leave uh the game after the second period, had a lower body injury. he uh sustained on that uh he had that breakaway. We’ll we’ll see. Nothing from him, but I do think that it’s a uh um you know, we we’ll kind of see with with that. So, um good thing is the Sharks are at home and the Barracuda are at home as well. So, if they need somebody, they can literally just yank somebody. The Barracuda do play Friday night, so we’ll know probably a little bit more if they need somebody uh if somebody’s not playing Friday night. So, we’ll see. Anyway, Smith celebrating to Fully played 1412. Uh 13 to 16 shot attempts, 8 to7 actual shots. Had two goals. Uh Smith and Tofo both had goals tonight. 47 to23 uh expected goals. Four six to4 scoring chances, 3 to1 high danger chances. that Celibbrini Smith goal. Celbrini winning the faceoff right and just like uh powering past two guys gets it over to Smith. Smith who misses the initial shot but then re on the reload just an absolute snipe. Um bonded pair like the just don’t separate those two. Like you can’t just just let them they’re too good together. Like they’re going to have mistakes. who cares? They’re too good together because they give you moments like that where Celebrity had a pretty quiet tonight like uh for the most part, but then he has a moment like that and you’re like, “Oh yeah, Ma Celebrating.” Uh anytime like any moment celebring like crazy to get back um and stops a play. Uh just an absolute menace. Uh he’s so good. Anyway, um so good. Ekquin Wberg Kerschev 1322 11 to 16 shot attempts uh five to eight actual shots two goals for as well.55 to 0.58 expected goals four 8 to six scoring chances three to four high danger chances um this line has been very good as we talked about in the first segment right very good this line and a big reason why the Sharks have really found their offense uh over the you know the past kind of week and a half here. I think this line has a lot to do with uh you know, just being able to kind of spread out and provide more scoring from different places. Uh so again, good to see good to see this line. But uh just getting some more offense elsewhere. So um Skinner Dandria Graph played 855 5 to 10 shot attempts uh 5 to5 actual shots 28 to.18 expected goals four 3 to1 scoring chances 1 to1 high danger chances Skinner’s overdue he’s had a couple good opportunities in the past couple games and has not been able to uh to cash in. I think Jeff Skinner’s overdue. Um DAR you know kind of got the promotion up to the third line. You know this line was solid tonight. nothing kind of sexy or spectacular. Um, but Misa, I think, is as we’ve seen, Misa really makes this lion sing when those three are together. And I’m hoping Misa’s back in uh for f or for Saturday’s game against the ABS. Um, just something to keep in mind. We talked about it yesterday, but um I still think they’re trying to stretch out the Misa nine games as long as humanly possible. uh and especially if they’re trying to also execute a trade elsewhere to keep Sam Dickinson and Misa on the roster. Those things take a little bit of time to get, you know, work through. So that’s I I like I would have loved to see Misa, but the Sharks have to think long term here, right? And they don’t want to kind of box themselves in here where they have, you know, uh like be kind of put themselves in a bad position here with with the contract. So, uh, I get why they’re trying to stretch that out. So, Goodro Giles and Ryan Reeves, uh, 522, four to eight shot attempts, three to four actual shots, 32 to point, uh, three expected goals, four two scoring chances, two to1 high danger chances. Um, Giles getting some looks on the PK like he’s an excellent PK. If you watched the Barracuda in the playoffs last year, absolute menace. Uh, it’s good to see him getting some PK opportunities as well. So, um, and Ryan Reeves almost scored again, but again, left the game with an injury as well. So, um, for the Sharks defensive pairs, I know we spent a lot of time talking about him, but, um, just how they perform. Again, the numbers are going to be not super great because of especially the third period where the Sharks just got heavily outshot because they were up by a bajillion goals. Um, but Orlav Viligrin led the way, 54.84%. uh Muka Madull and Dickinson 37% uh Corsy4 and then Ferraro Clingberg 30% Corsy4 again. Mukumad and Dickinson got a lot of run in the third period which is what you want to see especially when you’re up uh by you know three or four goals and you want to get these guys some uh some run there. So, um, brain assault with those numbers tonight just because again the the Devils outshot the Sharks. Uh, the Shots were 24 to3 in the third period because the Sharks didn’t have to do anything. Uh, Nadulkovich was was great tonight. Um, as well made some key saves when he had to, but uh, like he was just nice and calm and steady tonight. 29 of 31. Uh, two goals uh, against expected goals against 2.33. So, exactly what you would expect, 935 save percentage, eight of nine on high danger, five of six on mid- danger, and 15 of 15 low danger. And the Sharks winning the five on five game was uh not on my bingo card, but they did it tonight. And I think that’s a the big reason why they were able to win the game uh because they won at five on five and uh that last kind of five minutes in the second period were able to string together uh some good shifts and and put this thing away. the Sharks putting a team away. That’s a that’s that’s a new concept for me. So, uh we’ll be back Saturday afternoon, I guess, uh whenever after the Sharks game. Uh so, make sure you’re following along wherever you get podcast. And of course, you can watch on YouTube as well. Follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on Tik Tok at Locked OnSharks. Follow me on Twitter and Blue Skyfry Hole. Uh until uh until Saturday. Bye friends.

The San Jose Sharks delivered their most complete performance of the season, dismantling the New Jersey Devils 5-2 in a statement victory that showcased how far this young team has come. After blowing numerous leads earlier this year, the Sharks finally demonstrated they’re learning to protect advantages and execute game plans against elite competition.

JD Young breaks down the pivotal five-minute stretch in the second period when the Sharks countered the Devils’ pressure with two quick goals, extending their lead to 5-1 before successfully parking the bus through the entire third period. The second line of William Eklund, Alexander Wennberg, and Philipp Kurashev emerged as difference-makers, with all three finding the net. Eklund’s hot streak continues with nine points in his last five games, proving the Sharks can generate offense beyond the Macklin Celebrini-Will Smith connection.

The defensive transformation takes center stage as Dimitri Orlov settles into his first-ever top-pairing role, becoming a physical menace against New Jersey’s attack. Shakir Mukhamadullin returns from injury and pairs effectively with Sam Dickinson, creating a promising long-term defensive duo. With Dickinson’s nine-game evaluation period expiring, Young examines whether the 18-year-old should stay in San Jose or return to junior hockey, advocating for keeping him to avoid developing bad habits in a less structured environment.

Young provides detailed statistical analysis showing the Sharks actually dominated meaningful categories despite being outshot, winning the scoring chances battle 24-16 and high-danger opportunities 11-9. The chemistry between Celebrini and Smith continues to produce highlight-reel moments, including a goal where Celebrini powered past two defenders before setting up Smith’s reload finish.

Tune in for the complete breakdown of how the Sharks are building their identity as a big, fast, aggressive team that’s finally learning to close out games.

Timestamps:
0:00 Sharks Learning How to Win Games
4:34 Second Line Dominance: Eklund, Wennberg, Kurashev
7:10 Team Improvement and Building Identity
13:19 Dimitri Orlov Settling Into His Role
16:52 Sam Dickinson’s Future with the Sharks
20:28 Breaking Down the Game Numbers
24:01 Celebrini and Smith’s Unstoppable Chemistry
27:05 Managing Misa’s Nine Game Contract Window

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