October 20, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Jake Wallman (96) skates with the puck against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period at SAP Center in San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagen Images It may be a battle of the two Western Conference divisional cellar dwellers, but the Chicago Blackhawks and host San Jose Sharks both advance with wins heading into Thursday’s matchup.
The Blackhawks head to the West Coast on Monday after snapping a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 road win over the Colorado Avalanche, while the Sharks ended a five-game homestand with a solid 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings Started it. On Tuesday.
In fact, the Sharks have won consecutive games – claiming a 5-4 comeback victory over the Utah Hockey Club in overtime on Monday in Salt Lake City – after starting the season without a win in their first nine games.
“A win is a win. It doesn’t matter where it is. We want to win hockey games here,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I’m proud of the guys for the back-to-back effort (Tuesday), the way we performed, the way we showed up, and the way we worked to be what it should look like. Proud of the group.”
To say it’s been a tough stretch for the Sharks, who sit in last place in the Pacific Division, would be an understatement. After finishing last in the league in the 2023–24 campaign, expectations were high that they had bottomed out and could bounce back. Instead, he battled out of the blocks.
However, spirits are high thanks to a couple of wins and perhaps no one is feeling better than Jake Wallman. The defenseman scored once in a three-point performance against the Kings after dishing out three assists at Utah the previous night.
“I think we can all contribute. We’ve done that individually in the past,” Wallman said. “We can help the forwards any time we can, the biggest thing is to get it to them. We have a lot of skilled forwards.”
Chicago, which defeated the Sharks 4-2 in the season opener on Oct. 17, is playing the third game of a five-game road trip that will conclude with two clashes against two Southern California clubs.
Finally breaking their skid by defeating the Avalanche was a huge boost for the Blackhawks, who were on the wrong side of some close games during their sabbatical.
“I think we deserved what we got (Monday), and there were nights where we probably didn’t deserve that final fate,” coach Luke Richardson said. “We could have easily gotten a few more wins, and I think this team and the whole organization is tired of moral wins. So, (this win) is a big step for us to get real wins and move it forward.” What’s going on in our minds is how we did it.”
In the first round against Colorado, Chicago was the better team and took advantage. Ryan Donato scored his first of two goals of the game late in the opening frame to take a 3–1 lead.
And if his offensive contributions weren’t enough, Donato — along with linemates Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev — kept Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon (a power-play goal) reasonably in check.
Donato said, “A lot of times in the last few games we feel like we’ve played too well, and five minutes later we get back in the game. We just find a way to not finish it.”
“I think we all came into the locker room after the second (period) and said it wasn’t good enough, we’ve got to step back. There’s not much to say other than just getting the job done, and that’s good.” Whatever happened.”
Chicago is tied with Nashville at the bottom of the Central Division heading into Thursday’s game.
–Field Level Media