The San Jose Sharks finish up the home schedule and face the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks had a chance in the third period to take control of their game with the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night at SAP Center.

But a handful of missed power play opportunities opened the door to another disappointing loss.

With a one-goal lead, the Sharks allowed three straight goals in the third period and missed two crucial power play opportunities in a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center.

Down 2-1, the Sharks squandered one power-play opportunity and then, after the Avalanche tied the game, squandered another.

Just 12 seconds after a tripping penalty on Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin ended, Joel Kiviranta scored to give Colorado a 3-2 lead. Kiviranta then scored at 15:58 to help tie the game and hand the Sharks their third straight loss and their sixth in seven games.

Carl Grundstrom and William Eklund both scored goals for the Sharks and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev finished with 27 saves as San Jose finished its home game with a 0-3-0 record.

The Sharks went 0-4 on the power play as goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, acquired from San Jose earlier this month, made 32 saves.

At 8:26 of the third period, the Sharks conceded an tying goal to Mikko Rantanen, just 27 seconds after Barclay Goodrow was called for grabbing Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.

The Sharks checked hard in the first two periods, taking time and space away from Colorado’s playmakers and taking a 2-1 lead in the final 20 minutes of regulation time.

After Carl Grundstrom scored his first goal as a Shark at 4:26 of the second period, William Eklund gave San Jose a 2-1 lead 5:03 later.

The Sharks caused a turnover in the Avalanche end that led to a shot attempt by Cody Ceci. The Sharks defenseman followed suit and pushed the puck to Eklund, who beat Blackwood from close range for his sixth goal of the season.

The Avalanche questioned the play because they believed the officials missed a stoppage in play because they believed Eklund had poked the puck up just before the goal.

After a review, the NHL’s Situation Room supported the on-ice referee’s statement that Eklund’s stick was not above the normal height of his shoulders when he touched the puck at 10:36 of the second period – five seconds before his goal. The decision was made in accordance with Rule 80.1.

Grundstrom took a major penalty just 3:07 into the first period and the Avalanche, who had the 10th-best power play in the NHL heading into Thursday’s games, won.

Cale Makar received a pass from Nathan MacKinnon and fired a shot that narrowly missed the Sharks’ net. But Nichushkin collected the loose puck near the Sharks’ net and slipped it under Georgiev at 3:40, giving him his ninth goal of the season and a 1-0 Colorado lead.

The Sharks’ ability to maintain leads and win close games has come into greater focus this month as they once again fell to the bottom of the Pacific Division.

Since a 5-2 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 7, the Sharks are 4-5-3 in games decided by a goal, including recent narrow losses to Carolina, Utah and Winnipeg and a 4-0. 3 win against the Minnesota Wild St. Louis Blues last week. San Jose has a record of 7-7-5 in one-goal games this season.

The Sharks also entered Thursday with a 9-9-3 record this season in games in which they either led or were tied in the third period. That .500 percentage isn’t quite where the Sharks want to be, as it’s slightly below last season’s .529 mark (23-20-9).

“We’re just learning how to win. “We’re a young group that, for whatever reason, gets put in these situations,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Thursday morning. “It’s not just about our team in this league, but we’re trying to learn how to win and we’ve seen some improvement over the year, but there’s still some work to be done.”

ORDER CHANGES: Defenseman Timothy Liljegren was a healthy scratch on Thursday as the Sharks use their third defensive pairing in Henry Thrun and Shair Mukhamadullin. As a result, right-back Jan Rutta was promoted to the second team and played alongside Mario Ferraro.

Liljegren was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 30 for defenseman Matt Benning and two draft picks. Liljegren did not play in the Sharks’ game against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 31, but was on the team’s roster for the next 22 games, recording six points while averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time.

Liljegren has one point and one assist in his last seven games and logged 16:18 of ice time for the Sharks in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Jets. Warsofsky felt some of Liljegren’s interpretations and puck decisions could be a little sharper.

KOSTIN UPDATE: Klim Kostin, who is on injured reserve because of an upper-body ailment, was back running in a non-contact jersey Thursday morning, but Warsofsky couldn’t say whether the Russian-born forward would join the Sharks on their upcoming road trip through Edmonton and Vancouver. Kostin, who was injured in the Sharks’ Dec. 12 game in St. Louis, is eligible to come off IR today.

“We’re going to get it done today, and then we’re going to get over another hurdle and figure it out (Friday morning),” Warsofsky said.

VANECEK UPDATE: Injured Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek was examined by doctors on Wednesday, but his condition remains week-to-week, Warsofsky said Thursday. Vanecek was hit in the face by a puck while sitting next to the Sharks’ bench during the second period of Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Warsofsky said Vanecek and the team are “still seeing some other doctors.” When asked if Vanecek might need facial surgery, Warsofsky said, “I can’t really get into it until we have a clear plan and they meet with the doctors.”

Originally published: December 19, 2024 at 10:20 pm PST