Sharks rally from down 3 late, defeat Utah Hockey Club in OT for 1st win
Wennberg caps comeback on power play at 1:26 for San Jose, which had lost 9 straight
Sharks at Utah Hockey Club | Recap
SALT LAKE CITY — Alex Wennberg scored a power-play goal at 1:26 of overtime for the San Jose Sharks, who rallied from three goals down late in the third period to get their first win of the season, 5-4 against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on Monday.
Mikael Granlund‘s shot from the point caromed off the end glass and back out to the left post, where Wennberg scored past goalie Connor Ingram‘s outstretched right pad.
“It’s just a really great effort,” Wennberg said. “At the end of the day, you don’t say how you win, you just got to win the game.”
SJS@UTA: Wennberg caps Sharks’ rally with PPG in OT
Granlund had a goal and two assists, Fabian Zetterlund scored twice, and Jake Walman had three assists for the Sharks (1-7-2), who got their first win under coach Ryan Warsofsky. Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves.
“The players, credit to them, they stuck with it,” Warsofsky said. “There were times we did some really, really good things and just didn’t get rewarded for it. But we stuck with it, we just kept playing, and that’s going to be our mindset. We’re never going to give up.”
Matias Maccelli scored his first two goals of the season, and Ian Cole and Vladislav Kolyachonok each had two assists for Utah (4-4-2), which has lost four straight and is 1-4-2 following a 3-0-0 start. Ingram made 40 saves.
“That’s not who we are and that’s not who we want to be,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “You have that kind of a lead, that’s not the way we want to play. That’s not who we want to be.”
Zetterlund scored his second of the game to get San Jose to within 4-2 at 15:28 of the third period. With Blackwood pulled for the extra skater, he skated to the net following a face-off win and redirected in Granlund’s shot from the left point.
“I want more. I want to hold on to the puck, be physical out there, and take the puck to the net as much as I can,” Zetterlund said. “I think I stepped it up today and it was a great game.”
SJS@UTA: Zetterlund scores his second goal of the game
Granlund scored 25 seconds later with Blackwood again pulled for the extra skater to cut it to 4-3. He scored with a shot through a screen from the left point following a face-off win by Wennberg.
Tyler Toffoli then tied it 4-4 at 17:18, scoring from the left circle after Walman’s initial shot deflected to him off Wennberg in the slot.
The goal was San Jose’s third with Blackwood pulled for the extra skater.
“I think that we played a really good game overall,” Toffoli said. “I think we just have to keep building off of it.”
SJS@UTA: Toffoli scores to make it 4-4 late in the 3rd
Dylan Guenther gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 11:00 of the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Clayton Keller and scoring from the edge of the left circle.
Maccelli pushed it to 2-0 at 16:24. He got inside position on Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun and knocked in the rebound of Cole’s shot with his backhand.
Zetterlund made it 2-1 at 9:12 of the second period. He skated down the left wing on a rush, cut inside on Kevin Stenlund, and tucked the puck past the left pad of Ingram.
Maccelli responded to make it 3-1 at 10:38, burying another rebound in front off a shot from Cole.
Mikhail Sergachev made it 4-1 at 19:36 with a shot glove side through a screen. It was his first goal with Utah since being acquired in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 29.
“We knew they were hungry for a win,” Maccelli said. “I think we played all right, it was 4-1 going into the last four minutes. I don’t really know what to say, it’s just really frustrating.”
SJS@UTA: Sergachev scores goal against Mackenzie Blackwood
San Jose outshot Utah 19-4 in the third period and overtime.
“We just kept playing, and that’s what this game is all about,” Warsofsky said. “We’re just never going to give up. We’ll never give up. No matter what the scoreboard says, we’ve just got to keep playing. … We’ll take this in tonight and then we’ll get ready for tomorrow (San Jose hosts the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday).”
NOTES: Granlund extended his point streak to seven games (five goals, seven assists). … Utah forward Josh Doan was assigned to Tucson of the American Hockey League prior to the game.