The Carolina Hurricanes hosted the San Jose Sharks in the second half of the weekend back-to-back. The Hurricanes were playing their first of two games over the next three days, honoring the 2005-06 Stanley Cup team in celebration of their 20th anniversary. They were coming off their 6-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night (Dec. 6). The Sharks were looking to snap their two-game losing streak against the Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals. After the final horn sounded, the Sharks defeated the Hurricanes 4-1.
Game Recap
The first period saw goals scored by both teams. The Sharks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, just 33 seconds into the festivities. Collin Graf scored after a bad clearing attempt from the Hurricanes was intercepted at the blue line. Will Smith was able to keep the puck in the Hurricanes’ zone, who then found Macklin Celebrini in between the dots. Celebrini passed the puck to an open Graf by the goal, which led to him tapping it in past Pyotr Kochetkov.
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Jordan Staal got the Hurricanes back on the board to tie the game up with under five minutes left in the first period. It came on the power play, giving the Hurricanes three power-play goals in their last two games. It was also Staal’s first power-play goal in four years. After the first period, it was tied 1-1, with the Hurricanes outshooting the Sharks 8-6.
The second period was all Sharks as they scored two goals in the period. John Klingberg scored just under eight minutes into the period after receiving a pass from Celebrini, who was behind the net. Klingberg dumped the puck behind the Hurricanes’ goal, where Celebrini found him on a give-and-go type play with the defenseman in between the dots. Klingberg wasted no time and scored his fourth of the season.
Less than eight minutes later, Alexander Wennberg scored on the power play to make it a 3-1 Sharks lead. After an initial shot from William Eklund was saved, Wennberg was all alone on Kochetkov’s left side to cash in on the rebound. There was nothing Kochetkov could do on all three Sharks goals between the defensive breakdowns, and just a sluggish second period from the whole team.
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The third period only saw one goal, which came from Celebrini to cap off his three-point night with an empty-net marker. His 15th of the season was a tap-in goal after getting a pass from Wenneberg, who found him between the circles to ice the game with under two minutes left.
The Hurricanes fall to 17-9-2 after their 4-1 loss to the Sharks. Their next game is on Tuesday, Dec. 9, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It comes the day after their alumni game against the North Carolina State IcePack, which will feature members of the 2005-06 Cup team and other alumni. The Sharks snapped their two-game losing streak and are now 14-13-3 on the season. Their next game is on Tuesday, Dec. 9, against the Philadelphia Flyers.
