SAN JOSE – Less than a minute after scoring the tying goal, the San Jose Sharks gave up the game-winner to Pius Suter with 25.7 seconds left in a 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
The Canucks controlled the puck inside the Sharks zone before Conor Garland dug it out of the corner and fired it to an open Suter, who wired a perfect shot past Mackenzie Blackwood for his second of the game and fourth of the season.
“It’s a gutting way to lose,” Sharks defenseman Jake Walman said. “We battle back, and it’s in our hands, and we just gave it away.
“I could have stopped that play (on the game-winning goal), and I’ll take accountability for that.”
The Sharks had a chance to tie the game as time expired, but Fabian Zetterlund fanned on a shot attempt after William Eklund fed him in the slot in front of the Canucks net.
With the loss, the Sharks fell to 2-1-0 on their five-game homestand and missed a chance to extend their winning streak to four. The last time San Jose won four straight games was at the start of the 2021-2022 season when it beat Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto.
Before the final minute, the Sharks almost sent the game into overtime.
Down a goal and with the extra attacker on, Mikael Granlund scored with 1:17 left in regulation time to tie the game 2-2.
But the ensuing breakdown inside their own spoiled any such hopes.
“We’ve got to learn how to win,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “When we play in certain situations, we have to understand what is going on in the hockey game. We cannot have the brain lapses that we have, the line changes that we have, the puck play that we have and think we’re going to win hockey games in this league.”
The Sharks killed two penalties in the third period but also missed on two power play opportunities in the late going. It proved costly, as just 36 seconds after an interference penalty to Filip Hronek expired, Jake DeBrusk beat goalie Blackwood to give Vancouver a 2-1 lead.
Just like Suter’s second goal, puck management issues, especially in their own end, proved deadly to the Sharks.
“It’s about digging in more and being more competitive in those situations,” Warsofsky said. “The focus level’s got to go up, so we’ve go to learn from it.”
The Sharks were outshot 9-3 in the first period but opened the scoring for the Sharks in the second.
The Sharks had the puck inside the Canucks zone as Sturm replaced Will Smith on a line change.
With the puck near the boards to the right of the Vancouver net, Sturm sent a pass to the slot for Luke Kunin, whose shot was stopped by goalie Kevin Lankinen. But Sturm pounced on the juicy rebound and scored his second of the season past an outstretched Lankinen at the 2:37 mark.
The Sharks had opportunities in the second period to extend their lead, including a breakaway chance for William Eklund, whose attempt to go five-hole after a rush up the wing at the 14:25 mark was stopped by Lankinen.
Just a few seconds later, the Sharks turned it over inside their own zone after a forecheck by Garland. The redirected puck came right to the slot, where Nils Hoglander passed it back to Suter for his third goal of the year at the 14:41 mark.
While the Sharks were riding a three-game winning streak, the Canucks were coming off a 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 30.
During their streak, the Sharks came back to beat Utah 5-4 in overtime last weekend, then began their homestand with wins over Los Angeles and Chicago.
The Canucks have owned the series with the Sharks since the start of the 2019-2020 season.
In the last four seasons they’ve been in the same division, San Jose went 2-10-3 vs. Vancouver while being outscored 79-39. That included a 10-1 loss to the Canucks on Nov. 2, 2023.
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