Vincent Desharnais scored in his return, and Alex Nedeljkovic got into a fight as the San Jose Sharks beat the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Monday.
In what was a highly entertaining game, the Sharks used three second-period goals to jump in front of the reigning champions. Along with Desharnais scoring his first Sharks goal, San Jose also got goals from Will Smith, Mario Ferraro, and Barclay Goodrow. Igor Chernyshov had two assists, and Nedeljkovic made 37 saves.
Matthew Tkachuk returned to the Panthers lineup, but it didn’t matter as only Eetu Luostarinen was the goalscorer. Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves as well as the fight.
At six minutes of the third period, Nedeljkovic went to stand up for his teammates and was challenged by Bobrovsky to a goalie fight. The two went at it, with the Sharks’ goalie landing multiple haymakers. There was a delay following the fight, as Bobrovsky went to the locker room for an unknown reason, but would return.
Desharnais’ impact was felt right away, and that’s not just about his goal. The big blueliner only has two NHL goals, and hasn’t scored since Oct. 29, 2023. He used his size to his advantage in the first period by laying out Matthew Tkachuk. That hit set the tone for the San Jose Sharks, telling the Panthers they meant business.
The Seattle Kraken lost in regulation to the Pittsburgh Penguins, leaving the Sharks with sole possession of third place in the Pacific Division with 53 points. Monday’s win is also the first win this season for the Sharks when Macklin Celebrini doesn’t record a point.
Smith put the Sharks up 1-0 50 seconds into the second period. After Timothy Liljegren’s one-timer rebounded off Bobrovsky, Smith made a calm, backhand-to-forehand move to score.
Desharnais pushed the Sharks’ lead to 2-0 at 2:41. Igor Chernyshov’s shot rebounded in front, and Desharnais out-muscled two defenders and potted the goal.
Ferraro made it three unanswered goals for the Sharks, making it 3-0 at 6:12. After Chernyshov shot the puck off Bobrovsky’s pads, the puck kicked to the middle for the one-timer by Ferraro.
Luostarinen made it 3-1 42 seconds into the third period. He took a wrist shot from the right point that deflected off Dmitry Orlov’s stick and over the blocker of Nedeljkovic.
Goodrow put in the empty net goal with 2:39 left in the third period.
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