At this point, it’s almost not a matter of whether the San Jose Sharks will lose a third-period lead. It’s a matter of when — and how heartbreaking the final result will be.
It happened again Thursday night, as another winnable game for the Sharks turned into another frustrating defeat.
After giving up a game-tying goal early in the third period, the Sharks saw Cole Caufield carry the puck into the Sharks’ zone, dangle around Macklin Celebrini and lift a shot high over the shoulder of Alexandar Georgiev at the 3:21 mark of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win at the Bell Centre.
The result comes three days after the Sharks took a one-goal lead into the third period against the Winnipeg Jets only to allow a goal with 26 seconds left in regulation time, and the winner 1:33 into the extra session.
This season, the Sharks not only have a 4-9 record in overtime, but have also been outscored 77-50 in the third period. They are also 9-7-3 in games in which they’ve taken a lead into the third period, equating to a league-worst .579 winning percentage.
“We’ve just got to keep putting ourselves in this situation,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of trying to solve the late game issues. “We’re in games. We’re competing. We’ve done some really good things, and did some really good things tonight, and we had chances to win the hockey game. But we’ve got to keep being in these situations.”
Will Smith gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at the 17:21 mark of the second period.
After a nice play by Collin Graf in the defensive end, defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin got the puck ahead to Smith, who carried into the Canadiens’ zone and beat goalie Sam Montembeault to the glove side for his ninth goal of the season.
But the Canadiens tied the game 2:22 into the third period. After a Sharks turnover in the corner to the net, Patrik Laine took over the puck and found an open Alex Newhook, who got a step on Collin Graf and beat a helpless Alexandar Georgiev for his 11th goal of the season.
Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun was injured on the shift, left the game and did not return. Warsofsky did not have an update on Thrun after the game. Still, the Sharks were able to kill minor penalties to Graf and Mukhamadullin in the third period to at least help get the game into overtime.
By the 12:38 mark of the first period, the Sharks had a 2-1 lead on goals by Zetterlund and Nico Sturm.
Zetterlund’s goal, his second in the Sharks’ last nine games, came after Smith retrieved the puck below the Canadiens’ goal line and skated toward the back of the net before passing it out front. There, Zetterlund tucked it inside the near post past Canadiens’ goalie Sam Montembeault on a second effort for his 16th goal of the season.
After Suzuki scored his first goal of the game, a few seconds after a San Jose turnover, the Sharks regained the lead on a rush by the fourth line.
Graf danced past Canadiens forward at the offensive blue Owen Beck, skated to the side of the Montreal net, and slid the puck to the crease area. Klim Kostin fanned on a shot attempt, but Sturm was there to knock the puck past Montembeault at the 12:38 mark of the first period.
For Sturm, a pending unrestricted free agent, the goal was his sixth of the season, eclipsing his total from last year. Sturm is now in his seventh NHL season, but Thursday’s game was his first as a professional at the Bell Centre.
Suzuki got his second goal with 56 seconds left in the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson before beating an out of position Alexandar Georgiev to tie the game 2-2.
The assist was Hutson’s 40th of the season. Hutson now has 44 points, most among all NHL rookies, and two more points than Celebrini, his Boston University teammate from last season.
“Lane has had so much success this season,” Celebrini told reporters in Montreal on Wednesday. “He’s incredible, but I’m not surprised. I saw up close last season in college. You don’t really understand the kind of player he is until you play against him.”
Celebrini came into Thursday as the Sharks’ leading scorer over the previous two months. Since Dec. 28, Celebrini had 16 points in 21 games, a total that was one point back of the 21-year-old Hutson, and the same as Detroit Red Wings forward Marco Kasper among NHL rookies.
“I feel a little more comfortable, but I still have things to learn,” Celebrini said when asked about adjusting to the NHL. “The decision-making, reading the game, I have to work on little details like that, that people may not see. It’s hard to prepare to play against the best in the world every night.”