Part of goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood's short history with the San Jose Sharks was his ability to offer his team a probability in many of the games he played.
On Tuesday, Vitek Vanecek did the identical for the Sharks against the Carolina Hurricanes.
But the Sharks, under pressure for many of the third period, conceded two goals in the ultimate 15:49 of regulation in a 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes on the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina
With the sport tied and the Hurricanes applying pressure, Macklin Celebrini, stationed next to the Sharks' net, attempted to backhand the puck out of the zone. But Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield stopped it, firing a shot from contained in the blue line that beat a screened Vanecek with 2:39 left within the third period.
Vanecek finished the sport with 25 saves and Luke Kunin scored two goals, however the Sharks lost their third straight game and fell to 2-3-0 on this six-game road trip that ended Thursday in St. Louis.
The Sharks (10-16-5) still haven’t beaten the Hurricanes on the road since February 4, 2018. Since then, they’re 0-3-3 in Raleigh.
“We didn’t get a puck there in the third period,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We give the momentum, of course the equalizer and then the game-winning goal.”
The Sharks on Monday traded Blackwood, their No. 1 goaltender, forward Givani Smith and their very own 2027 fifth-round pick, to the Avalanche for goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, forward Nikolai Kovalenko, Colorado's 2026 second-round pick, and a conditional fifth-round draft pick in 2025.
Both Georgiev and Kovalenko dressed for Tuesday's game, with Georgiev supporting Vanecek and Kovalenko and starting on the Sharks' fourth line with Nico Sturm and Ty Dellandrea.
After starting the yr with an 0-2-2 record, Blackwood, a preferred figure within the Sharks' locker room, has had a solid 6-6-1 record this season and a .916 save percentage in his last 14 appearances . That included an excellent 51-save performance on Saturday within the Sharks' 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
“Sad, I would say,” Sharks forward William Eklund said of his response to the trade. “He was a good friend of mine and he will remain a good friend of mine (for a long time). It's part of the business, but it's also human. It’s hard to see a friend go away.”
Among goaltenders who played no less than 10 games, Blackwood ranked seventeenth in goals saved above expected (3.9) and nineteenth in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes (.221), in accordance with Money Puck. .
“He’s kind of been our backbone here for the first 30 games, so it’s tough,” Warsofsky said of Blackwood on the Sharks Audio Network before the sport. “You have to talk about it. (But) you go out and move forward, and how do you react when misfortune happens to you, like with everything in life?”
“I know it’s going to be tough for our group,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said Monday. “I think our group really likes (Blackwood) and enjoyed playing in front of him.”
Vanecek made his first appearance since Thursday when he allowed five goals on 12 shots within the opening period of San Jose's 8-1 loss to the Lightning.
Vanecek made 18 saves in the primary two periods of the sport on Tuesday. But with San Jose leading 2-1 within the third period, defenseman and former Shark Brent Burns finished off a pleasant passing play by the Hurricanes and beat Vanecek at 4:11 of the third period for his second goal of the season.
The Sharks have finished a series of games against the top-scoring NHL teams. Before Tuesday, the 4 teams with the best points per game were Washington (4.04 goals per game), Tampa Bay (3.92), Florida (3.75) and Carolina (3.74).
SMITH TO IR: Before Tuesday's game, the Sharks placed rookie forward Will Smith on injured reserve, meaning he may also must miss Thursday's game against the St. Louis Blues to finish the road trip.
The Sharks activated Barclay Goodrow from IR to take Smith's spot on the 23-man roster, and he began the sport on a line with Kunin and Alexander Wennberg.
Smith, who was sidelined with an upper-body injury, is eligible to play on Friday. The Sharks play the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday to open a three-game homestand.
In 24 games this season, Smith has 11 points, which ranked sixth amongst all NHL rookies heading into Tuesday's games.
Goodrow was placed on IR on Nov. 28, a day after he blocked a high hit from Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig. He had recently skated with the team. Goodrow has scored two goals in 25 games this season but is averaging 14:46 of ice time per game and is one among the Sharks' best penalty killers.
MUKHAMADULLIN REMINDERED: After the sport, the Sharks announced that defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin had been recalled from the AHL and that defenseman Jack Thompson and forward Ethan Cardwell had been loaned back to the Barracuda.
Mukhamadullin had six assists in 14 games for the Barracuda this season after the Sharks traded him to the AHL on Oct. 22. Thompson, who played many of the season within the NHL, scored five points in 14 games for the Sharks. Cardwell had played in three games since being recalled on November 28 and scored his first NHL goal the following day against the Seattle Kraken.
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