San Jose Sharks' Tomas Hertl (48) can’t reach the puck against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SAN JOSE – Whatever Erik Karlsson touches is turning into gold right now.
The Sharks just want Karlsson’s heroics to turn into a couple more victories.
With the Sharks down by two to the Florida Panthers entering the third period, Karlsson led a dramatic comeback. He assisted on a Timo Meier power play goal, scored at even strength, and assisted on Matt Benning’s go-ahead goal with 8:12 left in regulation time.
But Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe scored with 1:22 left in the third period to tie the game, and Sam Reinhart scored the only goal in a four-round shootout as the Panthers handed the Sharks a 4-3 loss before an announced crowd of 10,182 at SAP Center.
“I think we did a great job in generating chances and playing to tie up the game, which we did, and we kept going,” Karlsson said. “It’s unfortunate they end up tying it up on a perfect shot. That’s the way it is sometimes. Another tough loss for us but I thought we showed a few things that we haven’t before.”
On the Sharks’ third goal, Karlsson was near the wall inside the Panthers when he passed it over to Benning, who took a few brief strides to his right before he flung a shot on net that beat Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Karlsson now has 12 points – seven goals and five assists – in the last four games as the Sharks (3-8-2) fell to 1-2-2 on their six-game homestand that ends Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Karlsson has already matched his total goal output from last season when he had 10 in 50 games. Only two defensemen in NHL history have scored 10 goals in fewer games, with Harry Cameron scoring 10 in seven games in 1917-18 with the Toronto Arenas and King Clancy scoring 10 in nine games in 1929-30 with the Ottawa Senators.
Meier’s power-play goal came at the 1:04 mark of the third period, and Karlsson scored at the 6:34 mark.
“Great,” Karlsson said of the achievement. “When I’m 50 years old, I’ll look back and I’ll be happy.”
With his goal, Karlsson became the second-ever Sharks defenseman to score in four consecutive games, after Brent Burns did it in 2016.
“It’s pretty special,” Quinn said of watching Karlsson play right now. “I knew how good he was. I didn’t know he was as good as he’s been. He’s been a Norris Trophy defenseman from the get-go this season.
“The thing I like about him is he’s playing a well-rounded game on top of getting the goals he’s getting. He’s been a big guy in our locker room. He’s at the stage in his career where I think he understands his responsibility. Really happy for him because I know it’s been a tough three years for him.”
Sharks winger Luke Kunin was given a match penalty and ejected from Thursday’s game after his high hit on Patric Hornqvist in the first period.
On the play, the puck had already slid into the Sharks’ zone when Kunin’s shoulder made contact with Hornqvist’s chin. Hornqvist made it to the Panthers’ bench but soon went to the team’s locker room at SAP Center after he was helped off the ice. Hornqvist did not return.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he did not have an update on Hornqvist’s health after the game, saying the veteran forward would be reevaluated Friday.
Kunin was assessed a five-minute major for the hit at the 9:14 mark of the first period. After a review by officials, Kunin was also given a match penalty, meaning the Sharks had to play the rest of the game with 11 forwards.
“It certainly skewed the first period. I liked the game we were playing, although I thought our rush coverage was a little tough early on,” Quinn said of playing without Kunin. “I liked some of the things we were doing, and then obviously you get the five-minute major and it really skews the period and we almost killed it off.”
Per NHL rules, any player given a match penalty is automatically suspended from further competition until the commissioner, Gary Bettman, has ruled on the issue. The Sharks’ next game is Saturday at home against the Anaheim Ducks, as they complete a six-game homestand.
Asked if he’s concerned Kunin might have to sit out at least one more game, Quinn said, “there’s nothing we can do about that. We’ll just have to deal with it if that’s the case.”
Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic did not play in the third period with a lower-body injury, and his availability for Saturday’s game is unclear.
Quinn was eager to see how the Sharks would respond to their 6-5 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
The Sharks played what was arguably their loosest period of the season when they allowed three goals on 17 shots. They needed a goal from Karlsson with 2:12 left in regulation time to help earn at least a point against a Ducks team that had gone 1-6-1 since their opening game of the season.
“I’m anxious to get going tonight because I feel confident that we’re gonna pick up where we were,” before Tuesday, Quinn said Thursday morning, “and not have the stretches that we had against Anaheim.”
The Sharks on Wednesday had an up-tempo half-hour practice which concluded with Quinn gathering everyone around him to remind them of the defensive mentality they needed to play with going forward.
It just so happened the Sharks were playing a Panthers team that had averaged 2.3 goals per game during 5-on-5 play, a number that ranked them in the NHL’s top 10 before Thursday’s game. The Sharks before Thursday were averaging about 1.6 goals per game at 5-on-5, one of the league’s lowest figures.
“Playing good defensively in this league is all about how hard you want to do it,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said. “Everyone at this level knows how to play defense. The question is how hard do you want to compete? If you play well defensively, it leads to offense.”
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka