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It took until their 12th game, but the San Jose Sharks finally earned their first win of the season last night, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1.
San Jose actually managed to strike early, with Anthony Duclair burying a great pass from Kevin Labanc on a rush to open the scoring. While San Jose didn’t manage another shot for a while afterwards, they did end up sustaining some momentum late in the first period but couldn’t capitalize, and ended the frame up by one.
Then despite the Sharks being outshot by quite a margin, William Eklund managed to put San Jose up by two midway through the second period, burying a one-timer. But while it looked like the Sharks would manage to escape the frame with a two-goal lead despite being wildly outshot, Joel Farabee connected on a one-timer of his one late in the period – though it looked like Mackenzie Blackwood managed to stop the shot with a huge save, it was determined the puck crossed the goal line. As a result, the Sharks went to intermission up by a single goal.
Philadelphia had some great chances to tie the game in the third period, including a breakaway for Garnet Hathaway, and threw 15 shots on goal in the frame. However, Blackwood came through huge for the Sharks, backstopping them to their first win of the season on a 38-save performance.
So finally, the Sharks got their first win. Obviously it’s not a perfect performance, being outshot 39-19 and relying heavily on Blackwood for the win.
But despite only managing 19 shots, San Jose was generating some good chances here and there, and actually sustained a bit of momentum at points, which is something that hasn’t been the case a lot of the time.
Anthony Duclair in particular had his best game with the team. Duclair scored the first goal, set up the second goal, and could’ve had a few more points. He had some good chances after scoring in the first period, then had a breakaway in the third.
At the very least, it’s a building block for the Sharks. They had pretty much nothing going for them to this point, so finally getting that win could hopefully generate a bit of momentum.
Then in other news today, the Sharks managed to acquire defenseman Calen Addison from the Minnesota Wild, in exchange for Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth-round pick.
Addison is 23 years old and has posted five assists across 12 games with the Wild this year, and is on a one-year contract worth $825,000. Across 93 career games, Addison has 38 points.
For the price the team paid, this is a really good acquisition for the Sharks. Addison is still very young, and while he has his defensive flaws, he can produce at a high rate. Without Erik Karlsson, San Jose has really, really struggled to get much offense from the blue line and Addison is going to be able to help with that.
There are probably going to be some growing pains – Addison would likely be best paired with a very reliable blue liner who can carry the load defensively, and the Sharks just don’t really have that. But while the team’s blue line is mostly made up of defenders who should only be played in a bottom pairing or depth role, Addison at least has a much higher ceiling than other members of the blue line. With the Sharks so far away from contending, now’s the time to try to develop a player like Addison, when any mistakes really aren’t going to matter.
While the Sharks’ blue line is still extremely crowded, Addison is an exciting addition.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
- Sharks remain winless after allowing 10 goals in second straight game 
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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