Sharks get butchered by the Edmonton Oilers but provide some silver linings
By Conor Power
Does anyone want to talk about what happened? The Edmonton Oilers turned up and beat the Sharks so severely that it might violate some Californian fishing laws, but that doesn't matter because this game was played in Alberta. The World Wildlife Fund watched this game and was upset with the Oilers' behavior. It was a thumping defeat for the team in Alberta in teal, and they have to carry this into the season's final game.
If you're new to the website, I usually go through the goals, try to break them down and discuss why everything happened, but with a game like this, I don't think anyone wants that. McDavid scored 50 seconds into the game, Adam Henrique made it two before the five-minute mark, Warren Foegele, and Dylan Holloway made it 4-0 before the end of the first, and it was not a good time for the Sharks.
It would be 9-1 at the end of the second when Foegele scored again, Corey Perry joined in on the action, Cody Ceci got in on the fun, and Evan Bouchard made it eight. Zach Hyman's goal would be the ninth. It would also give Connor McDavid his 100th assist of the season, becoming only the fifth player ever to do it. It was an extraordinary feat, but it was overshadowed when he only had two points in a 9-2 thrashing of a rebuilding team.
Let's talk about the positives! Devin Cooley gave up eight goals, which is terrible, but Gregori Romanov made his NHL debut, stopping 16 of 17 for a .941 save percentage. He couldn't do much with the Hyman goal as it was just a beautiful cross-crease pass, and the Oilers were likely pulling their punches to not embarrass a team already out of the game. Romanov looked good, though, which is a good sign.
Danil Gushchin got his first NHL goal on his debut in the second period when he led a rush up the ice. A cross-ice pass would find Thomas Bordeleau before Gushchin got the puck back near the front of the net. He tried to slam it home from a tight angle and saw a hole in Stuart Skinner. It squeaked through to give the youngster his first taste of scoring in the NHL, and the Sharks' future looks even brighter now with that goal. Ignore the rest of this game; focus on the future.
San Jose's second goal of this game came with five minutes to go. Mikael Granlund led the rush up the ice before dangling towards the front of the net. Somewhat comedically, he forced Fabian Zetterlund, who had driven the net, to start jumping and running on the spot to try and avoid blocking a potential shot. Eventually, the running man in front would find the puck in his skates and shovel it home to make it a 9-2 game. Damage control!
There are signs of a positive future. Remember to grade on a scale when it comes to games like this, but a lot of the younger players making their debuts had good showings. There will be a bright future in the Bay Area. It's a shame that the present has to be so dim while we wait for the prospects the Sharks drafted to arrive and help this organization return to its once-incredible stature.