Familiar issue haunts San Jose Sharks in loss to Edmonton Oilers

Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News on Apr 12, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The San Jose Sharks could not stay out of the penalty box on Friday night against the Edmonton Oilers, and it cost them any chance of ending their extended losing streak.

The Sharks took five penalties against the Oilers – all stick fouls — including Alexander Wennberg’s borderline tripping call at the 5:54 mark of the third period. Just 1:38 later, Corey Perry scored a power-play goal, breaking a tie and helping to hand the Sharks a 4-2 loss at Rogers Place.

The Sharks also allowed a first-period power-play goal to Evan Bouchard, went 3-for-5 on the penalty kill as their losing streak was extended to eight games.

Will Smith and Henry Thrun scored for the Sharks, who allowed three power-play goals to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night. San Jose’s road trip continues Sunday against the Calgary Flames.

The Sharks’ penalty kill came into Friday ranked 29th in the NHL at 73.6%.

Connor McDavid had four assists for the Oilers, who clinched a spot in the playoffs.

Thrun scored his second goal of the season at the 5:44 mark of the middle period. After taking a pass from William Eklund in the Oilers zone, Thrun, from along the boards, fired the puck toward the crease, where it went off Darnell Nurse’s skate and past goalie Calvin Pickard to tie the game 2-2.

Goalie Georgi Romanov, still looking for his first NHL win, started Friday’s game and made 30 saves . Romanov faced the Oilers on April 3 and made 35 saves in a 3-2 Sharks loss. Before Friday, Romanov was 0-4-0 with an .873 save percentage.

The Oilers entered Friday with 95 points and in third place in the Pacific Division and only needed one point to clinch a spot in the 16-team playoffs for the fifth straight year.

The Sharks entered Friday five points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for 31st place in the NHL. To avoid finishing in 32nd and last place for the second straight season, the Sharks now need to win all three their remaining three games and have the Chicago Blackhawks lose their last three games in regulation time.

Whichever team finishes in 32nd place will have the best chance (25.5%) of winning next month’s NHL Draft Lottery. No team has finished in last place overall since the Buffalo Sabres brought up the rear in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

The Sabres still have not made the playoffs since 2011, when Sharks general manager Mike Grier, now 50 years old, was on the Buffalo roster. The Sharks have now missed the playoffs in six straight seasons.

The Sharks took two minor penalties in the first period and trailed 2-1.

Just six seconds after Smith was called for slashing at the 6:41 mark, Bouchard took a pass from McDavid and fired a shot from point that got through a screen and past Romanov to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.

At the 15:41 mark, McDavid set up another team, as he separated himself from Timothy Liljegren and found former Sharks defenseman Ty Emberson for a back-door tap-in goal and a 2-0 Edmonton lead. The goal was Emberson’s first in 73 games with the Oilers this season.

The Sharks got that goal back 1:32 later. After a forecheck from Macklin Celebrini, Nikolai Kovalenko picked the puck up along the boards and found Smith, whose low shot found the short side on Calvin Pickard for his 18th goal of the season and his fifth goal in his last four games.

Friday’s game marked the return of defenseman Jan Rutta, who missed the last 27 games with a lower-body injury and last played on Jan. 23 when the Sharks faced the Nashville Predators.

Rutta, who was on injured reserve, returned two days after defenseman Mario Ferraro sustained a broken ankle in the Sharks’ 8-7 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. Ferraro blocked a Matt Boldy shot late in the second period as he stood near the Sharks’ net.

This season, Rutta, playing mainly in a third-pair role, has eight points in 51 games, averaging 17 minutes in ice time.