SAN JOSE, Calif. – A Sharks team that has had almost everything go wrong for it at home this season endured more heartbreak on Monday.
After allowing a game-tying goal in the waning seconds of the third period, the Sharks couldn’t manage a goal in overtime or the shootout in a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils before an announced crowd of 13,293 at SAP Center.
Devils forward Tomas Tatar scored the only goal in the shootout as the Sharks (13-23-9) lost their third straight game and fell to 4-12-7 at home this season,
Jack Hughes scored with 8.6 seconds left in regulation, as his shot from the half-wall went off Erik Karlsson’s stick and past goalie James Reimer to tie the game 3-3. A wild overtime that saw numerous shot blocks and a combined seven shot on the net solved nothing.
Nick Bonino’s goal with 14:04 left in the third period had looked like it was going to be the winner as the Sharks, who were coming off their most lopsided loss of the season
After newcomer Mikey Eyssimont put a shot on the Devils’ net, Bonino grabbed the loose puck and slid it past goalie Vitek Vanecek for his sixth goal of the season, breaking a 2-2 tie just after a high sticking penalty to Hughes had expired.
Karlsson and Timo Meier each had a goal and an assist and Reimer finished with 34 saves in regulation time as the Sharks were hoping to bounce back after a 7-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
Eyssimont also assisted on Meier’s goal with 3:16 left in the first period, giving him his first two points with the Sharks since he was claimed off waivers by the team on Jan. 6.
The game was halted with 3:59 left in the first period, as a piece of a door located behind one of the nets had a part of it chipped off after Steven Lorentz checked Jesper Boqvist in that area.
Both teams went to their respective dressing rooms as repairs were quickly made, and the Sharks scored just 43 seconds after play resumed.
Eyssimont won a race to a loose puck in the Devils’ zone and later was able to get the puck back to Karlsson just inside the blue line. Karlsson fed the puck back to Eyssimont, who found an open Meier beside the Devils’ net for a tap-in goal.
Then with the Devils serving a too-many-men penalty, the Sharks’ top power play unit cashed in, as Karlsson took a pass from Meier and fired a shot past screened Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek for his 14th goal of the season with 3.7 seconds left in the first period.
The Sharks allowed a Devils goal at the 29-second mark of the first period.
Karlsson had a shot attempt from the blue line blocked by Nico Hischier. Jaycob Megna lost a puck battle along the wall to Yegor Sharangovich, who fed it up to Hischier to set up an odd-man rush.
Hischier took it to the middle of the ice past a sliding Karlsson, and after Timo Meier crashed into Reimer on the backcheck, Graves lifted it over the fallen Sharks goalie for a 1-0 New Jersey lead.
Noah Gregor, who had been a healthy scratch for eight straight games before Monday, was inserted into the lineup as coach David Quinn played him on a line with Bonino and Nico Sturm.
Quinn scratched Kevin Labanc for just the second time this season, feeling the winger hadn’t played enough complete games of late.
“Just need him to be a little bit more consistent overall, in a lot of aspects,” Quinn said before Monday’s game. “When he’s on his game, there’s a swagger to him, there’s an edge to him. Makes life hard on the other team, makes good decisions, and I just think he’s lost his way just a little bit.”
