Berlin's Marco Nowak, left, and San Jose's Tomas Hertl, center, challenge for the puck during the NHL Global Series Challenge ice hockey match between Eisbaeren Berlin and San Jose Sharks in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
The raucous crowd at Mercedes-Benz Arena was buzzing after Eisbären Berlin took a one-goal lead over the San Jose Sharks midway through the second period of Tuesday’s exhibition game.
Maybe, just maybe, their hometown team could upset an NHL franchise.
Then Tomas Hertl scored off a nifty feed from Timo Meier late in the second period to tie the game, and 40 seconds later, Steven Lorentz tipped a shot from Erik Karlsson past goalie Juho Markkanen to give the Sharks the lead.
Luke Kunin scored a shorthanded goal in the third period to put the game away, as the Sharks did what they needed to do Tuesday to earn a 3-1 win over Eisbären to conclude the exhibition portion of their schedule.
San Jose travels to the Czech Republic on Wednesday and will play the Nashville Predators on Friday and Saturday at O2 Arena in Prague to open the regular season.
Starting Sharks goalie James Reimer didn’t allow a goal before he was replaced by Kaapo Kahkonen with 8:35 left in the second period. Kahkonen, though, allowed a goal on the first shot he saw, as a wrist shot by Giovanni Fiore past Karlsson’s legs beat him low glove side with 7:50 to go in the second.
The goal fired up everybody in attendance at the 17,000-seat arena. But it also seemed to help the Sharks find another gear.
On their first goal, Meier took a pass from Hertl below the Berlin goal line, waited momentarily, and found Hertl with a return pass. Hertl, entering the first year of an eight-year, $65.1 million contract, then beat Markkanen at the 17:06 mark of the second period.
Hertl
Timo
This goal was nasty
pic.twitter.com/xgtLCKkKpl
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) October 4, 2022
Lorentz gave the Sharks the lead 40 seconds later. After Jonah Gadjovich created a turnover deep in Berlin’s zone, the puck came back to Karlsson, whose shot was redirected by Lorentz into the net.
The Sharks’ first two goals came at even strength as they went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, which included a 49-second two-man power play in the second period.
The Sharks knew they would get a competitive game from Berlin, which has won the German League championship the last two years. The game was also played on an international-sized ice surface, which is 15 feet wider than the standard 200×80-feet NHL rink.
Still, Eisbären, who has Sharks draft pick Manuel Wiederer among its ranks, was missing five of its regular players and seemed to wear down as the game went on.
Tuesday’s game represented the Sharks’ first chance to play together as a full team as only about half – or less – of the NHL regulars competed in each of their five preseason games in the United States.
The Sharks had six newcomers in Tuesday’s lineup, which will largely be the same for their season-opener on Friday against the Predators. The new players were forwards Kunin, Lorentz, Oskar Lindblom, Evgeny Svechnikov, and defensemen Matt Benning and Scott Harrington.
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka