SUNRISE, Fla. — The San Jose Sharks head to Amerant Bank Arena to take on the Florida Panthers.
Will Smith and Vincent Desharnais and Mario Ferraro and Barclay Goodrow scored, and the Sharks won 4-1.
Period 1
5 in: Ostapchuk does a good job drawing a penalty on Boqvist along the wall. Nice combo of size and speed, a bull there.
More traditional look on the power plays than I thought there would be: Klingberg-Celebrini-Smith-Eklund-Wennberg is PP1, Orlov-Misa-Chernyshov-Toffoli-Regenda is PP2
10 in: Good patience by Ferraro on PK, gets puck behind net, doesn’t rush it, he has time, loads up, and fires it off the wall. If he hadn’t taken that beat, probably doesn’t make it out.
7 left: Desharnais pinches when maybe he shouldn’t, understandably rusty. Leads to a Panthers’ 2-on-1 for Dickinson to contend with, Desharnais tries to push Celebrini into the backcheck to even up with his stick, but lucks out, one of the Panthers slips with the puck.
3 left: Good play by Misa to take a beat with the puck behind Nedeljkovic, not rush it under a little duress, hit the open man. Then Desharnais coming up the ice reverse hits Tkachuk. Tkachuk skated to the bench and noted the number of that license plate.
The San Jose Sharks have been OK this period, Florida 9-8 shots, but the Panthers have had the better chances, I think. Seem to be wearing down the Sharks a little, and the long change in the second is upcoming.
Period 2
Smith goal: Ferraro pinches to keep the puck alive in the zone. Wennberg jumps on it, low-to-high to Liljegren, who does a nice job shooting for a rebound, I think. Smith, who jumped on first for his line, is right there, cool and calm.
1 in: Almost a bad turnover by Klingberg in front of Nedeljkovic, too casual looking with puck. Reminiscent of his early-season struggles.
Desharnais goal: Vinny starts it, erases Samoskevich in the corner. San Jose Sharks pick up, Misa and Chernyshov lead partial 2-on-1, Desharnais crashes net, two Panthers on him but can’t contain him, he puts in Chernyshov rebound. Great 200 feet from Desharnais.
5 in: Misa does solid work as F3 to intercept puck.
Ferraro goal: Panthers do an awful job picking up Ferraro. But credit to Goodrow for picking up the loose puck, dropping the puck off to Misa on entry, then beelining to the net to give Misa and Chernyshov space to work. Chernyshov bad-angle shot, but rebound was probably the ideal result there. Whole time, Goodrow just standing in front of Bobrovsky, occupying the defense. Ferraro, free, jumps on the rebound in the slot.
7 in: Good read by Klingberg to not give in and back up on the tie-up along the wall, he puts stick in there, makes sure puck doesn’t advance into Sharks’ zone.
9 in: Balinskis drops Misa, Regenda no hesitation comes over and cross-checks him. Regenda gets the extra, but love it. I like that the instinct of the Sharks is to err on the side of protecting their, hey, their baby sharks. That’s what a family would do, damn the consequences, leap before looking for each other.
8 left: Not Celebrini bullying Boqvist! San Jose Sharks playing with confidence and momentum after that kill, could’ve scored twice, Celebrini in front all by himself, trying his suite of video game moves, then Celebrini found Klingberg weakside, open net, but puck skipped.
6 left: Klingberg with a marvelous stretch bounce pass to Graf. Nothing comes of it, but we’re seeing his best and worst today.
5 left: What a save by Bobrovsky on Toffoli, could be 4, 5-0 now. Pretty, Eklund surprise pass to Wennberg, Wennberg waits and waits, hits Toffoli, but Bob outwaits Toff.
4 left: Samoskevich and Eklund start pushing, but Reaves cruises in and draws a Greer push. In the aftermath, looks like Reaves throws Greer’s stick away with a laugh. It’s nice to have the neighborhood bully on your team.
2 left: Misa negotiates entry, then drops it back to Regenda, who pounds it. Probably Misa’s best game of the year, hope he can build on it.
Period 3
Luostarinen goal: Did Orlov tip that puck? Exactly what Panthers wanted to get them back into game. Let’s see how the San Jose Sharks deal with the coming surge.
2 in: Good puck battle win, Orlov versus Lundell down low.
3 in: Decent defensive shift from Misa. Just in right place.
4 in: Liljegren knocks down Tkachuk. I think he’s had a nice stretch of games.
6 in: How does Rodrigues not get called for boarding Desharnais? Should be even up.
Bobrovsky getting hero’s welcome coming back, huge cheers. Can San Jose Sharks blunt Panthers’ momentum?
They kill the (undeserved) Florida power play!
8 in: Nedeljkovic with a series of Grade-A stops, off failed Regenda, I think, clear up wall. Defenseman Bjornfot, of all people, all alone in front. Sharks have to calm it down.
7 left: Not careful enough passing by Celebrini in that situation, too much hope, a little wild, leads to Panthers’ 2-on-1. Don’t get caught up in the emotion, play smart. Earlier, Klingberg and Dickinson sorted out a 2-on-1 smartly, Dickinson was backchecking, Klingberg played the pass, Dickinson knew his skating would make up his gap. Sharks need to take a breath, they’ve been dominated since the goalie fight, Ned saving their bacon.
Goodrow goal: Well-earned! Had an assist taken from him on Ferraro goal, despite doing yeoman’s work on it.