The last place you wanted to be on Sunday evening? Probably on the airplane with the Sharks following their loss to the Rangers.
Despite their 4-0-1 record and first period success in previous tilts, the Sharks had a challenge heading into Madison Square Garden; it was their third road game in four nights and coming on a back-to-back. The wear and tear of the road trip began to show in that Sunday matinee and the Rangers set a few records as they shutout Team Teal 4-0.
New York scored three of their four goals in late in the second stanza, two of which came only four seconds apart. It was the fastest two goals had been scored together without an empty netter in Rangers franchise history, and tied for third-fastest consecutive goals in the NHL.
A deflating occurrence for the Sharks, particularly starting goaltender Alex Stalock. The young netminder didn’t exude his usual confidence between the pipes on Sunday and looked shaky playing the puck all game. The offense in front of him wasn’t much better — they had a few promising shifts, but only won 34% of their faceoffs and went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Henrik Lundqvist, on the other hand, was steadfast in his first career shutout versus the Sharks, the 51st shutout of his career.
After a seemingly evenly matched first frame, the ice tilted in favor of the Rangers in the second 20 minutes. Thirteen minutes in, Stalock blocked a shot by Carl Hagelin, but wasn’t quick enough to stop Hagelin from putting in his own rebound and notching New York’s first goal of the game. Martin St. Louis’s wrister with less than a minute left in the period widened the lead 2-0. Then, on the next faceoff, Rick Nash sent the puck Stalock’s way. The puck eluded him completely, increasing the Rangers lead after just four seconds.
San Jose skated out into the third frame with grit, and Andrew Desjardins traded swings with Ranger Tanner Glass in an effort to pump up his team. But Kevin Hayes buried New York’s fourth goal at 7:18 in the period to seal the Sharks fate.
The San Jose Sharks end their road trip on Tuesday in Boston with their first matchup of the season against the Bruins. Puck drop for that game is scheduled for 4 pm Pacific.
