Home » NHL TEAMS » Blackhawks » RECAP: Blackhawks fall to lowly Sharks 4–2 in San Jose

RECAP: Blackhawks fall to lowly Sharks 4–2 in San Jose

  
RECAP: Blackhawks fall to lowly Sharks 4–2 in San Jose
Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks takes a faceoff against Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks in the first period at SAP Center on March 13, 2025, in San Jose, California. (Photo courtesy of Kavin Mistry / NHLI via Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks came into Thursday night’s action against the San Jose Sharks looking to end a two-game skid. They were coming off back-to-back losses to the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators and needed to get back into the win column.

Here would be the lines for the evening:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

 First period

The first period was all Sharks. They got started fairly early with a beautiful feed from Macklin Celebrini to Will Smith. He used Colton Dach as a moving screen, giving Spencer Knight no sightline to the puck and putting it in the back of the net, 1–0 Sharks.

Halfway through the period, the Blackhawks were struggling to get the puck out of their own zone. Alex Wennberg got the puck along the half boards. He skated towards the front and fed Collin Graf in front, who buried the shot past Knight, 2–0 San Jose. The Blackhawks got a late power play, but were not able to do anything with it, ending the period with San Jose up by two.

Second period

The Blackhawks decided to show up in the second after a rough first period. Right off the opening faceoff, Frank Nazar got the puck and skated in on a pass from Wyatt Kaiser. He put a wrist shot right past the blocker of Alexander Georgiev to get the Blackhawks back to within one.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Sharks hopped on the power play twice in the period. Both calls were earned by Celebrini, one on a hooking call, and the other on a cross check. The Sharks made the Blackhawks pay on the second power play chance. Graf again got the goal, this time on a broken shot play from Smith out in front. It was another goal that Knight had no chance on, making it 3–1 Sharks.

Jason Dickinson would get in a fight with Barclay Goodrow a few minutes later, who took exception to the cross-check of Celebrini earlier in the period. After a hard-fought battle to keep the puck in the offensive zone, it found its way to Ryan Donato. He fed Ilya Mikheyev in front of the net, who tipped the puck in, 3–2 Sharks.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The period would end with the Sharks ahead by one.

Third period

The Blackhawks fought hard to get back into the game in the third. They put 12 shots on net in an attempt to get back even with the Sharks, but were not able to generate anything. Connor Bedard got called for the weirdest penalty you will see in a long time. He got a 10-minute misconduct for “berating” officials that made no sense if you were watching the game at all. Tyler Toffoli would add an empty-netter for the Sharks, putting it away in the last minute to give the Sharks a 4–2 victory.

Analysis

The Sharks outplayed the Blackhawks in this game, despite what the stat sheet said. The Blackhawks won almost every statistical category, but the Sharks got better chances, and a few of them looked like they controlled the play from start to finish to get a goal. The Blackhawks have to get better defensively, as there were a few plays that made it look like the Sharks had a power play, when they did not at all. Mikheyev has continued his strong play of late. He has had a great second half of the season so far, seeming like a good fit alongside his linemates and putting goals up when the Blackhawks need them.

The Blackhawks’ next game is on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks. That game will be on CHSN+ at 9 p.m. CDT.

Leave a Reply