vs San Jose

The blue and white faithful were treated to the standard experience of falling behind to a team they should probably handle with ease. Mason Marchment found the back of the net in the first period while the boys were busy taking penalties instead of playing defense. Zack MacEwen and Oliver Ekman-Larsson decided to test the penalty kill in the opening frame, but Sergei Bobrovsky actually showed up to work. He turned aside 30 shots and kept things from getting ugly while the Sharks dominated the second period with a 13 to 9 shot advantage. It was a classic display of playing down to the competition until a too many men penalty by San Jose finally gave the superstars an opening.

Auston Matthews finally woke up the crowd by sniping a power play goal late in the middle frame. He finished the game with three points, proving he still remembers how to carry this roster on his back when things get tight. Gavin McKenna added another power play marker in the third period thanks to some help from William Nylander. The game stayed chippy as Nick Paul decided to trade pleasantries with Kiefer Sherwood, resulting in matching minors for roughing and slashing. Paul eventually had the last laugh by scoring the final goal to secure a 3-1 victory.

It was a win, but nobody should get carried away. Beating the Sharks while going two for six on the power play is fine, but the ten minutes of penalty time suggests the discipline is still a work in progress. Darren Raddysh logged a massive 26 minutes of ice time, which is certainly a choice for a team trying to keep its heart rate down. We can enjoy the result, but history has taught us that a random victory is usually just a setup for a more creative disappointment later.