SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was brilliant for the first 17 minutes of Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
Then everything went wrong, for himself and the Sharks.
Blackwood was injured late in the first period and did not return, and the Sharks, after taking a brief lead, got completely outclassed in the final two periods in what became a 7-2 loss to the Devils before an announced crowd of 10,982 at SAP Center.
Kaapo Kahkonen, in relief of Blackwood, allowed three goals in the second period and four more in the third as the Sharks totally unraveled and, remarkably, lost by five goals or more for the seventh time this season.
“We just gave them the puck over and over and over and over again,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “You don’t need to talk about anything else. If you just keep making plays, and you don’t care about the consequences, you’re going to get a 7-2 loss.”
“Regardless of the outcome scoring-wise, we want the other team to say, ‘Hey, we had to work really hard for what we got tonight,’” Sharks center Nico Sturm said. “And I thought today we were just way too easy to play against.”
Nico Hischier had a goal and three assists, Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Timo Meier, in his first visit to San Jose since being traded by the Sharks last February, had two assists.
“Definitely feels weird,” Meier said. “I’m happy we won. I think that’s the big thing. Before the game, some emotions and everything, but then once you go out there, it’s just business. And it’s nice to get those two points.”
Sturm and Justin Bailey both scored for the Sharks, who have now lost four in a row and six of their last seven. Kahkonen finished with 24 saves, as San Jose now has a goal differential of -102 on the season.
“We fed right into what makes them good,” Sturm said. “They’re a skilled team that feeds off transition, off turnovers on both blue lines. I think if you get a lead against a team that plays that way, you give yourself a really good chance.
“They give you chances, they play a very high-risk game. It was just completely unnecessary for us to play the way that we did.”
Blackwood has a lower-body injury, Quinn said, as it appeared he was injured making a save on Hughes. More will be known about Blackwood’s condition on Wednesday.
After Blackwood made the save with 2:28 left in the first period, his 13th of the game, he got up and skated toward the Sharks bench during a television timeout. After he reached the bench, Blackwood walked toward the Sharks’ dressing room and threw his stick down in apparent frustration.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead shortly after Blackwood left the game, as Sturm scored his fourth of the season off an assist from Alexander Barabanov at the 18:17 mark of the first.
Kahkonen allowed two goals on the first four shots he faced in the second.
On its third shot of the period, New Jersey tied the game, as a bad change by the Sharks led to a Devils 2 on 1. Jesper Bratt then took a pass from Meier and scored his 22nd of the season at the 3:29 mark.
Just 37 seconds later, Jack Hughes took advantage of a Sharks turnover and beat Kahkonen for his 19th goal of the season as the Devils took a 2-1 lead.
“Once we gave up that first goal, that’s where I really saw a change,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “Our first period wasn’t great, but we were hanging in there and we got away with a few things, and we actually did some good things.
“The beginning of the second, that’s where it went downhill. We started letting them play their game, and we didn’t play ours.”
Blackwood, acquired from the Devils last June, was playing in his 35th game for the Sharks on Tuesday as he had remained mostly healthy for the first four months of the season.
Beset by injuries the last two years, Blackwood hadn’t played in this many games in one season since 2020-2021, when he went 14-17-4 for the Devils in a non-playoff year for the organization.
Blackwood has a 9-18-3 record in his first season with the Sharks.
Kevin Rahl also scored for the Devils at the 13:08 mark in the second period as Kahkonen allowed three goals on 16 shots in the middle frame. Meier thought he had a power-play goal 52 seconds earlier, but the play was called back after the Sharks challenged for offside.
Colin Miller, Brendan Smith, Dawson Mercer, and Hischier all scored in the third period.
After Hischier’s goal, Quinn called a timeout, but didn’t appear to say much for the first few seconds. He then talked calmly, likely challenging his team to show a bit more backbone to finish the game after allowing seven straight goals.
Asked about his message, Quinn said, “I’ll keep that between myself and our team.”
