Sharks win ends 14-game losing streak to Bruins

SAN JOSE — What's the difference between winning and losing? Well, right now the Sharks might say the margins are razor thin.

In their last two home games, the San Jose Sharks have suffered a 3-1 loss to Carolina on Thursday and picked up a 3-1 victory over Boston on Saturday night at SAP Center.

Despite getting the literal opposite results on Thursday and Saturday night Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky sounded equally optimistic after both games, pointing out that the team made winning plays in both contests.

“I thought we worked extremely hard tonight and got our effort back,”Warsofsky said after the Sharks beat the Bruins for the first time since March 15, 2016. “We had a good feeling going into that third period even the the start of that third period we gave them some momentum with some time in the zone. We realized it and after a TV timeout we kind of got back to it so that was a positive.”

I was glad to hear Warsofsky say he was confident headed into that third period where San Jose and Boston were tied at a goal apiece. In my previous six games covering the Sharks this season, Team Teal had a record of 0-5 and I was starting to think I was bad luck. I was beginning to wonder if all the Sharks' growing pains this season could be linked back to me and not the fact that this team is in the middle of a massive tear down and rebuild and is less than a year removed from qualifying for the number one overall pick.

Luckily for me and the Sharks, Lucas Carlsson untied the game and put an end to my ridiculously self-centered view of the team's success when he buried a backhander top shelf after taking advantage of a rebound from a Will Smith one timer. This goal was the first the defenseman had scored since his stint with the Florida Panthers in the 21-22 season. Carlsson's road back to the NHL was also made more difficult by a torn ACL he suffered in February of 2024.

Though the future of his NHL career was left in jeopardy he said he's feeling more optimistic about his future after contributing to a win in his first game with his new team and was candid when asked if he had doubts he could return to the league.

“I'd be lying if I said no,” Carlsson said. “It's been tough the last 10 months but now I feel so much better. I'm in a good place right now.”

Before the late-game heroics by the Sharks newest blue liner, some familiar names found their way on to the score sheet for San Jose. After a scoreless first period, Willieam Eklund shot and scored going five-hole on Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo after receiving a feed from Macklin Celebrini at 18:13 in the second period to give San Jose the 1-0 lead.

According to Celebrini, Eklund was looking to shoot low the entire time.

“We were actually talking on the bench and he said something about going five-hole on (Korpisalo) and then he went five-hole on him,” Celebrini said with a chuckle.

Does Eklund calling his shot carry the same weight and gravitas as when Babe Ruth did it in the 1932 World Series? Only time will tell.

San Jose got the win on Saturday in a way that didn't look completely different from its loss to the Hurricanes on Thursday. In both games the Sharks generated scoring chances, got an early goal from Eklund to spark the offense and had some quality scoring chances late in the third period when the game was close. Georgi Romanov was in net to give starter Alexandar Georgiev the night off on Thursday and played well in his first career NHL start.

However, Romanov was pestered with traffic all night and was screened on the second and third goals he surrendered that evening.

In maybe one of the more obvious differences between Thursday and Saturday, the Sharks did a much better job of keeping traffic from in front of their netminder. Georgiev stopped 22 pf 23 shots and gave most of the credit to his team's attention to detail in the defensive zone.

“Our D helped me see the puck a lot. There were a lot of great box outs and I saw the puck a lot today,” Romanov said. “They made my job pretty easy today and I feel like if we keep playing like that good results will come.”

Another key difference Saturday night was Barclay Goodrow getting two thirds of the Gordy Howe hat trick. Goodrow dropped the gloves early in the first period for a tilt Jakob Lauko in an attempt to bring some energy early on. Goodrow didn't pick up any assists but put away the empty netter that removed all doubt from the outcome.

Celebrini said it was a fun moment to hear the decibel level rise as they put the game out of reach.

“When Goody (Goodrow) was going down for that breakaway on the empty net that was the loudest I've ever heard this rink,” Celebrini said. “My ears were ringing after that, so it was cool to get that support and have all our fans get behind us like that.”

I will forgive Celebrini for not being born yet to witness how loud the Shark Tank got when San Jose knocked off number one seed St. Louis in the 2000 playoffs but his comments simultaneously made me feel old while serving as a reminder to how energetic this fan base can be when given something to cheer about.

Hopefully Celebrini and the rest of the young Sharks get to experience more of that energy in the near future in games that matter while getting victories that don't come with such thin margins.

The Sharks continue their homestand on Thursday March 27 when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at SAP Center.