San Jose, CA – You never want to make bold statements after the first preseason game, especially in hockey, but for the San Jose Sharks their opening preseason game against the LA Kings showed how good this season’s Sharks team can potentially be. They’re like a stock you’re seeing before it goes public.
The game started with a lot of energy from the Sharks and 7 minutes in, rookie Luke Kunin got the first goal, thanks to a beautiful set up by veteran San Jose guys Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl. The Sharks led the entire 1st period not only on the scoreboard, but in shots on goal.
Attacking goalie Jonathan Quick every possible chance they could. San Jose goalie Kahkonen stopped the 5 shots that came his way and the 1st period ended 1-0 Sharks.
The second period was a scoreless stalemate with the Sharks playing a physical game, but sometimes not being able to contain their physicality which resulted in penalties and that would be a theme also in the 3rd period.
“This was great practice for their special teams” considering how little it was worked on during training camp,” said coach David Quinn “He was a fan of the physicality his boys played with, but it has to be controlled.”
The penalties would result in the Kings scoring their first goal of the game a minute into the 3rd period. Halfway through the 3rd, Timo would put the boys in teal up 1 and in a late game breakaway, Kings would tie it up with a building silencing shot from Blake Lizotte, ending the game in a tie. We have overtime.
The overtime would be a rough exchange for both teams. The physicality was intense and both squads amped up their style of play, but with 1:27 left in OT, Sharks captain Logan Couture would get a tape to tape assist from Erik Karlaaon and the puck finds the back of the net. Sharks win!
Again it’s only game 1 of preseason with the first game of the regular season 10 days away in Prague, so maybe we should take this display with a grain of salt, but if you’re assessing what the Sharks can improve and what they already do well, there is more than meets the eye for San Jose.
Eklund looks as good as advertised and the veterans on this team seem ready for this season. A strong goaltending outing and a system that seems geared towards more physical styles of play make this team seem not only like a different Sharks team than in the past, but a team building real identity. Let’s see if this identity can stay with San Jose in this upcoming season.
