SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks once more fought until the tip against a powerful opponent. But once more they failed to keep up their lead within the third period.
With lower than 12 minutes left in regulation, the Sharks were up by one and allowed goals to Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry, with Lowry's goal at 18:47 of the third period being the difference in a 4-3 Sharks defeat to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday within the SAP Center.
The Sharks have been competitive in most games since late October, going head-to-head with the Jets, who lead the league with 47 points and a .712 points percentage.
However, that didn't soften one other narrow defeat, the second home defeat in a row that got here with a goal within the last two minutes.
The Sharks lost 4-3 to the Utah Hockey Club on a goal scored by Clayton Keller with 44 seconds left in regulation.
“I think we are all competitors. “Everyone is frustrated with the result,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I think we've made some progress since the last game. I thought we played harder for 60 minutes tonight.”
Still, San Jose has now lost three one-goal third-period leads in its last 4 games. They also gained a late lead within the 2:3 defeat against the Carolina Hurricanes.
San Jose now has a record of 7-7-5 in one-goal games this season.
“To be a good team, you have to finish it in the third period,” said Sharks defenseman Jake Walman, who had two assists. “I think there are a lot more positives we can focus on. That’s the main thing.”
Walman had two assists, and Tyler Toffoli and Macklin Celebrini contributed a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who face the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday to finish a three-game homestand.
“I think we should have won, so I don’t think there’s a moral victory,” Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli said. “I think we look at it as a loss and have to work on getting better tomorrow.”
Georgiev, who made his first start for the Sharks in San Jose, was largely regular and finished the sport with 29 saves. He allowed Connor two goals, including an influence play point that tied the sport at 3-3 at 11:56 of the third period.
“Everyone is fighting super hard. I feel like there was a lot of good today. “Five-on-five, we definitely spent a lot of time in their offensive zone,” Georgiev said. “We tried to do a lot and we succeeded. So that's good to see. We don’t worry about the offense, we just care about the rush, and that helps me a lot too.”
Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who was assisting Georgiev, was sitting at one end of the bench early within the second period when he was hit in the top by a puck.
Vanecek left the bank and didn’t return. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky had no update on Vanecek after the sport.
Tuesday's game was looking good for the Sharks as winger Fabian Zetterlund scored at 4:44 of the third period to offer his team a 3-2 lead.
Walman controlled the puck within the Sharks' zone and sent it to Zetterlund within the neutral zone. Zetterlund then beat Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck on his wing for his eleventh goal of the season and his second in as many games.
On Celebrini's goal, he took a pass from Walman along the boards and skated toward the middle of the ice. With DeMelo standing in his way, Celebrini steered the persist with his right and quickly sent an unobtrusive backhand shot into the online.
Celebrini's shot might need surprised Hellebuyck, but last season's Vezina Trophy winner simply didn't see it. Either way, the ability play goal tied the sport 2-2 with 2:49 left within the second period.
Celebrini also assisted on Toffoli's goal within the second period. With his seventh multi-point game, Celebrini passed Jeff Friesen for probably the most points by an 18-year-old in Sharks history.
The Sharks created a handful of probabilities to attain in the primary period, but were still down 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The Jets sent a pass to the Sharks' blue line, which Gabriel Vilardi directed past a pinching Walman. Mark Scheifele then caught the loose puck, brought it under the San Jose goal line and passed it in front to an open Connor, who switched from backhand to forehand to beat Georgiev.
Against the Jets, Warsofsky wanted his team to be the attacker and never hold back.
“As a team, there are some things I'm looking for and individually there's some things I'm looking for,” Warsofsky said Tuesday morning. “Guys that stick their nose in, go for the pucks and win 50/50 pucks, it's been a big problem for us this year to get 50/50 pucks, so that's what I'm going for.”
The Sharks went 3-3-0 on a recently accomplished road trip and opened a three-game homestand with a blowout loss to Utah on Saturday. The Sharks disagreed with a few of the officials' allegations against them and felt more allegations might have been made against Utah.
Notably, a close-by referee within the second period didn’t call what gave the impression to be a boarding penalty for Utah forward Kevin Stenlund's hit from behind on Celebrini, who hit the boards hard but was not injured.
Immediately after the tip of the sport, the cameras showed Warsofsky yelling on the referees for a number of seconds before leaving the Sharks' bench and returning to the team's locker room.
On Tuesday, the NHL fined Warsofsky $25,000 for “inappropriate conduct” in the course of the game.
“It’s something I’m trying to get better at,” Warsofsky said Tuesday morning. “At the same time, I’m passionate. I wear my feelings on my sleeve. It overwhelms me at times, but at the end of the day I need our players back and that won’t change.”
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