The San Jose Sharks had this one in their grasp more than once in Detroit, and still walked away with only one point.
Dmitry Orlov, Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg all scored, but the Sharks let another late lead slip away and fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
San Jose came out flying and dictated much of the opening period, building pressure early and generating the better looks. Celebrini was at the center of it, first helping create a strong push with a pass to Smith, then later leading a power play that kept Detroit pinned in.
Orlov was a major part of that stretch too, hitting a post, helping keep the puck alive and then finishing the sequence with a goal after Wennberg set a disruptive screen. The Sharks’ power play looked dangerous, and their shot total - 14-5 in the first - matched the flow.
Even with all that, Detroit found a way to hang around. John Gibson was busy, and he was especially sharp on a short-handed chance for Ostapchuk and on a point-blank Celebrini break-in late in the period. The Red Wings got on the board on a long shot from Faulk through traffic, with Rasmussen screening Nedeljkovic.
San Jose kept coming in the second, and Celebrini made the pressure count. After Kesselring jumped on a weak Detroit exit and Smith worked the puck into the middle, Celebrini hammered home a one-timer from the slot to restore the Sharks’ lead. The line of Goodrow, Graf and Nurse also did important work, with Goodrow repeatedly helping kill off trouble and extend shifts in the defensive zone.
The third period brought more of the same tension. Stenberg buried a clean one-timer off a beautiful Wennberg feed to give the Sharks a lead again, but they couldn’t close the door. Finnie slipped free into the slot and beat Orlov to cut it back the other way, and later Alex DeBrincat cashed in on a bad bounce during the 5-on-6 scramble that has been bothering San Jose in these tight endings.
The Sharks did get strong minutes from Allan, Goodrow and Graf, and their penalty kill held up well when it had to. Celebrini also kept driving play despite appearing to be less than fully sharp in battles at times, and still finished with three points.
But the finish was the story again. San Jose couldn’t protect the lead, couldn’t settle the game in overtime, and then lost in the shootout after another night that should have ended differently.
In Other News...
Sharks Let Another Two-Goal Lead Slip Away In Brutal Loss
The Sharks had another one of those nights that has become far too familiar this season, building a cushion and then spending the late stages trying to hang on. San Jose was in position to leave Detroit with a much-needed win after taking control early, only to watch the game tilt the other way as the Red Wings chipped back into it and forced the extra session.
Shootouts have been unforgiving for San Jose lately, and this one followed the same script with Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg all coming up empty. Alex Nedeljkovic kept the Sharks alive long enough to reach the tiebreaker, but the margin for error vanished quickly, leaving another blown multi-goal lead as the kind of loss that stings even more because the Sharks have been able to survive similar situations before. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Keep Turning Strong Starts Into A Late-Game Problem
The Sharks latest stumble in Detroit followed a pattern that has started to hang over their recent stretch. They carried a two-goal lead into the third period, only to see it disappear, and the loss marked the fourth time in eight games they have watched a similar advantage slip away. It is the kind of collapse that can make a team look fragile even when the broader effort has been there.
Goaltending has not been framed as the main culprit, which only makes the issue feel more familiar and more frustrating. Ryan Warsofsky said the group is not sitting back or playing passively, instead pointing to small execution errors, defensive breakdowns and difficult reads that keep showing up at the wrong moments. For a team trying to build confidence, the challenge is no longer just getting the lead, but finding a way to protect it once the game tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Lose William Eklund At A Brutal Time For This Season
William Eklunds absence is already set to linger over San Jose for a while after the young forward suffered an ankle injury on a hit from Simon Benoit. The Sharks have been trying to keep pace through the early part of the season, but losing one of their more important pieces this long leaves a noticeable hole in the lineup and takes some of the edge off a stretch where every point can matter.
The timing also wipes Eklund out of a couple of games that had been circled on the schedule against Ottawa, including the Oct. 22 and 31 matchups. With the forward now working through surgery and a recovery that will keep him sidelined for an extended stretch, San Jose will have to keep navigating without him while hoping the injury does not linger beyond this early-season window. [Read more 🡒]