Day two of the Golden State Rookie Faceoff is in the books, as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon. The Sharks’ portion of the event in Irvine has come to a close, as the only remaining game will be between the Kings and the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow afternoon.
Entering the games, the Sharks made a few changes from the night before. Cam Lund is day-to-day with an upper-body injury following a controversial hit late in the game against the Ducks. Meanwhile, Joshua Ravensbergen and Luca Cagnoni were taken out of the lineup as healthy scratches. Jack Bar and Noah Beck entered the lineup, giving the Sharks 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Meanwhile, between the pipes, Matt Davis got the start but split the time with Christian Kirsch.
The Kings got off to a hot start, with Koehn Ziemmer scoring just 15 seconds into the game. Just over a minute later, Parker Berge scored on another odd-man rush, extending the Kings’ lead to 2-0 within two minutes of puck drop. Kirill Kirsanov’s shot from the point off a Faceoff made it 3-0 just under halfway through the first period. Kenta Isogai joined the Kings’ goal-scoring party with just over five minutes remaining in the first frame.
It was clear right out of the gate that the Sharks were fatigued, both mentally and physically, due to the quick turnaround between games. As a result, decision-making was off, which created multiple chances for their opposition. The well-rested Kings were also a step quicker, and it was an overall struggle for the Sharks in the first period.
The Sharks had an opportunity to turn things around with 3:09 remaining in the period, as they got their first power play of the night. Isaiah Saville made a couple of saves for the Kings during the penalty kill, and the Sharks failed to convert on their man advantage.
The second period instantly started out with more grittiness than the first. There were a couple of scrums early, then Braden Hache was given an interference penalty for a late, heavy hit on Berge. Less than a minute after the penalty, Quentin Musty dropped the gloves with Henry Bruzstwicz after Musty threw a big hit along the boards, which earned him a boarding penalty. As a result, the Kings had a two-man advantage for over a minute.
The Sharks killed off the 5-on-3, and the remaining power play would be cut short as Kaleb Lawrence would be called for cross-checking, giving the Sharks a power play of their own after a few seconds of 4-on-4 play. Saville denied a Michael Misa one-timer with a great post-to-post save, preventing the Sharks’ second-overall pick from scoring his first goal with his new organization.
The Kings would kill off the penalty before Haoxi (Simon) Wang dropped the gloves with Lawrence. Both were given ten-minute misconducts along with their five-minute fighting majors, and went directly down the tunnel for the remainder of the period. Halfway through the period, both teams swapped goaltenders; Kirsch took over for Davis on the Sharks’ side, while LA-native Mattias Sholl entered the game for the Kings.
Kasper Halttunen got the Sharks on the board off a pass from Misa, making it a 4-1 hockey game. Moments later, Filip Bystedt added another, making it 4-2. Halttunen and Bystedt’s goals came on the first two shots that Sholl faced after entering the game, less than a minute apart.
Dawson Kerwing would get called for high-sticking Max Heise, giving the Sharks power play another opportunity. The Kings would kill it off. Musty would draw another penalty late in the penalty, and after massive chaos in front of the Kings’ net, the puck would find its way to Sam Dickinson, who put it behind a sprawling Sholl to make it 4-3 with just a second remaining in the period.
After a scrum at the end of the second period, the third started with some 4-on-4 hockey. Misa’s hunt for a goal continued throughout the night, as he was once again denied in spectacular fashion when he had a two-on-one with Musty six minutes into the third.
A few moments later, the Sharks had a similar chance; this time Teddy Mutryn hit Sholl directly in the mask with his shot. The Sharks drew a penalty on that play, and on the ensuing face-off, Halttunen was high-sticked, giving the Sharks nearly two full minutes of 5-on-3 hockey. Collin Graf ripped a one-timer from Dickinson past Sholl, tying the game at 4-4.
Minutes later, Graf would make it five unanswered goals as shortly after the penalty expired, he shot from the right face-off circle, beating Sholl and making it 5-4 in favor of the Sharks. Misa’s hunt for a goal came to an end when he found the back of the net with 8:04 remaining in the game, off a pass from Musty.
The Kings got one back with 4:19 remaining, when Aatu Jamsen scored a gritty goal in the crease, making it a one-goal game once again. Mattias Havelid put away his second of the tournament, restoring the Sharks’ two-goal lead with just over two minutes remaining. Carson Wetsch added one more for the Sharks, who walked away with an 8-5 victory when all was said and done.
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