Sharks Dominate Detroit Except Where It Counts, Lose 9th Straight

9 left: Outstanding shift from Duclair. Knocked down, still made a successful entry pass to Eklund. Took it off, I think, Kane in 50-50 battle. Got a chance in tight from Hertl pass. Good work by that line overall.

6 left: Good offense to defense to offense transition by Ferraro, but Eklund misses the pass to the point. Ferraro found Duclair for a chance, then stood up the Wings’ exit pass and gave it to Eklund. Outstanding shift from him.

Zetterlund goal: Liked a lot here. One thing was Emberson, getting a tough pass from Hoffman after Hoffman held the puck too long, calm and cool, moved it down under duress. Then Veleno on wall, looking to move it out, Emberson pinches to help keep it in. Zetterlund then finds Hoffman, Granlund follows up down slot, good F3. Everyone did something good here, well-earned goal after a strong period of play.

Ferraro and Emberson weren’t precise with their puck movement on that last shift of the period, Emberson at least, but I liked a lot that they did. They’re picking up where they left off before Ty’s injury.

Period 2

3 in: Great read by Thrun to step ahead of Wing trying to exit, intercept pass. Aggressive, but that’s a winning play. Wings are going to push after getting steamrolled in the opening frame. Good to see the Sharks hit back.

5 in: Elite stickhandling shift from Hertl, then Thrun stands Kane up in DZ. Things you love to see.

Compher goal: Kahkonen just isn’t squeezing the puck well enough tonight. Second puck to just sneak through tonight. San Jose Sharks should be up one, but instead, they’re down one. He may have to grind it out though, with Blackwood not quite 100 percent yet.

10 in: Good read by Eklund to grab open man on 3-on-2 backcheck, equalizing things. Then Emberson runs too aggressively on Veleno facing him in corner with puck, something to improve.

8 left: Duclair with smart decision, line was out for a while. Detroit gives it away on cycle, Duclair doesn’t push attack, he lets Eklund get ahead, set a subtle pick, and he dumps it in after gaining center.

Then Sprong beats a maybe too aggressive Ferraro up ice, down slot. Ferraro has to be better there. Off Studnicka drop pass turnover on entry, not a good place for a turnover, for sure.

4 left: A lot of good action there, Emberson runs subtle interference on Veleno trying to pursue puck out of zone, helping Granlund get to it. Granlund on entry makes a great pass surrounded by Wings to weak side Zetterlund. Then Zetterlund gives it back to Granlund for dangerous deflection in slot.

Bailey goal: Started with faceoff, Zadina, who has had a good, focused game, just fires it. Then good work along wall, Bailey beats Gostisbehere to the front, Ferraro does a nice job of finding an open lane for the shot-pass.

Not surprisingly, Red Wings pushed back, but the Sharks didn’t just bend a knee. NST had it 3-2 Wings at High-Danger 5v5.

Period 3

3 in: On forecheck, Studnicka takes Fischer’s stick, helps Kunin win the puck. Like.

5 in: Good action from Granlund, finds Thrun in high slot, Lyon glove, Thrun looks up.

7 in: Beaut give-and-go between Addison and Eklund, Addison had a nice move to beat Fischer on entry. Not sure what happened at the end there, maybe a poke check?

8 in: Bailey finds Zadina crashing net. Puck was bouncing, but Zadina has been flying tonight.

Everyone thought Kane was going to pass, but he tried to sneak a shot through Kahkonen. Big save. Classic Kane.

Barabanov goal: Gostisbehere doesn’t provide an obstacle on entry, soft defense, then Barabanov makes a nice move to fake going behind the net, then hard stop, curl back for his forehand. Copp bit on that. I think Studnicka provided the all-important screen.

Perron goal: San Jose Sharks not making it easy on themselves as usual. Rutta penalty, then Perron on rush, smokes a one-timer through Kahkonen. That shouldn’t happen on the kill.

Eklund penalty: There is high contact after the follow-through, so I don’t know if that’s letter of the law penalty, but man, that seems light.

Perron goal: Off Burroughs’s skate past Kahkonen. Wow. That kind of season. Burroughs looks like he had Larkin tied up.

Sharks 17-7 Slot Shots, 19-5 High-Danger at Even Strength. This might have been their best 5-on-5 performance this season, but they were undone by goaltending, penalties, and poor special teams.