San Jose Sharks player celebrate after overtime in an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The San Jose Sharks’ second-period comeback against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday — scoring four unanswered goals to tie the game after trailing by four — had local statistician Darin Stephens reaching for the team’s record book.
It wouldn’t be the only Stephens’ research skills came in handy.
The Sharks and Red Wings would establish a handful of new marks in what became a 6-5 overtime by San Jose at Little Caesars Arena. Mikael Granlund scored 37 seconds into the extra session as the Sharks won for the fifth time in seven games.
The Sharks (8-17-2) now have a couple of days off before they face the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, hoping to finish off what’s been a 3-2-0 road trip so far on a positive note.
Here are a few stats noted by Stephens and others from Thursday’s game.
Per Stephens, the Sharks win marked the first time in their history that they’ve rallied to win consecutive games after trailing by three or more goals in each.
The Sharks have now 22 goals in their last four games, as they beat the New Jersey Devils 6-3, the New York Islanders 5-4, and the Red Wings, with a 6-5 loss to the New York Rangers mixed in.
Per Stephens, this is the third time in Sharks history that they’ve scored 22 or more goals in a span of four road games. They had two such spans in Dec. 2018 in which they scored 23 in each. Four consecutive games, home, road, or a mix, with five or more goals in each ties the San Jose record.
Per Stephens, Sportsnet Stats and the NHL, when the Sharks and Red Wings combined to score six goals in a 3:01 in the second period, it was the second-fastest six goals scored in NHL history. The Quebec Nordiques and Washington Capitals scored six goals in exactly three minutes on February 22, 1981.
Per SportRadar, the Sharks are the first NHL team to win back-to-back games, both on the road, after trailing by three or more goals in each since the Los Angeles Kings did so on January 24-26, 1981.
Per Stephens, Hertl is tied for the Sharks’ all-time lead in career game-tying goals in the final two minutes of regulation with five. Hertl scored to tie Thursday’s game with 89 seconds left, and also scored with 90 seconds left against the New York Islanders. He shared the team record with Patrick Marleau.
Per Sharks team president Jonathan Becher, Thursday’s game was the first in NHL history to be tied, then have one team take a 4-goal lead, and then be tied again all within the same period.
Per Stephens, this was the second time the Sharks in their history — and the first time in the regular season — that they rallied from a four-goal deficit to win a game. The other time it happened was Game 3 of the 2011 Western Conference quarterfinals in Los Angeles. That night, the Sharks trailed the Kings 4-0 before they won 6-5, with Devin Setoguchi scoring the overtime winner.
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka