The San José Sharks opened their season with a 4-3 overtime loss at home to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The defeat marks the Sharks’ fourth season-opening loss in a row.
Center Philipp Kurashev scored his first goal with the Sharks in the third period at 2:59, giving the team their final lead and goal of the game.
San José appeared to have the win locked up with a 3-2 lead late in the third period, but Vegas center Jack Eichel tied the game at the 18:26 mark to force overtime.
The Golden Knights carried that momentum into the extra period, capitalizing on a Sharks error as right winger Reilly Smith tapped in the game-winner just 1:24 into overtime, handing San José its first loss of the season.
The Sharks entered their season opener with 16 new players.
Left winger Jeff Skinner, who signed a one-year, $3 million deal with San José after spending last season with the Edmonton Oilers, scored his first goal as a Shark at 5:31 of the first period, marking the 700th point of his NHL career.
Despite the loss, Skinner remains optimistic, viewing it as just a learning curve for the team.
“I think every game there’s good things and bad things, there’s a lot of things where we can fine-tune some things,” Skinner said. “Obviously for the adjustment getting back into real speed and real games, I think there’s not one major fix or something drastic we need to change.”
Even with the influx of new players, Skinner does not use that as an excuse for the opening-game loss and views it as just a learning curve for the team.
“Obviously, every team has new faces every year, so it’s not sort of something that’s unique to us, but maybe the amount is a little bit more average,” Skinner said. “The more reps you get, the more sort of video we do after games, the more comfortable guys are in different situations.”
Giveaways played a key role, as the Sharks had 24 while the Golden Knights had 17 in the game. Although the Sharks lost the giveaway battle, they averaged 14.95 giveaways per game last season, while Vegas averaged 15.90 per game.
The Sharks are also looking for a big season from standout forward Macklin Celebrini, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft.
Although he didn’t record a goal or an assist in the home opener, he remains a key part of San Jose’s plans after a strong rookie campaign with 25 goals and 38 assists.
Celebrini also focused on putting the Sharks first rather than worrying about his own stats and emphasized the team’s need to generate more offensive opportunities.
“Obviously we want to create a little more, we didn’t get much time in the offensive zone which is kind of frustrating, but we want that playing in their end as much as possible because that means it’s out of our end,” Celebrini said.
San José recorded 23 shots, while Vegas finished with 31.
Those numbers were close to each team’s averages from last season, as the Sharks averaged 26.8 shots per game and the Golden Knights averaged 30.2.
San José had a few bright spots offensively, as defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin recorded two assists to lead the team, already putting him on pace to surpass his total of seven assists from last season.
Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said the team’s depth was a key factor and will continue to be important as the season progresses.
“We got some depth and we don’t want guys sitting around, we want to get guys in this early in the year, it will be a tough decision whatever we decide,” Warsofsky said. “We’re gonna put the best team out there that we believe and trust and it doesn’t really matter if you’re a ten-year vet or a first-year guy, that’s the standard.”
The Sharks are awaiting the debut of rookie center Michael Misa, the 2025 second overall pick in the NHL draft.
Meanwhile, both Misa and defenseman Sam Dickinson were scratches, though Warsofsky announced during Friday’s practice, “Sam will play tomorrow,” in a post-practice interview.
The Sharks don’t have much time to dwell on the loss, as they return home Saturday at 7 p.m. to face the Anaheim Ducks, who also lost their season opener to the Seattle Kraken.
