Big second period helps Sharks complete home-and-home sweep of Kraken
A busy month of November for the San Jose Sharks ended on an upbeat note Saturday.
Four players scored goals, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves in a solid bounce-back performance as the Sharks earned a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken to sweep a home-and-home series with their Pacific Division rival.
Mario Ferraro scored in the first period, and Luke Kunin, Will Smith, and Cody Ceci all scored in the second, with Smith’s goal – his third in three games – giving the Sharks a 4-0 lead at the 9:45 mark.
Ceci’s goal — just 46 seconds before Smith scored — was his first in a road game since Nov. 11, 2021, when he helped the Edmonton Oilers beat the Boston Bruins 5-3.
The Kraken responded with goals from Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann, with McCann’s goal at the 6:27 mark of the third period cutting San Jose’s lead to two. But Blackwood and the Sharks held on from there and closed the month with a 6-6-3 record. San Jose went 3-7-2 in October.
The Sharks also beat the Kraken 8-5 on Friday at SAP Center to close a four-game homestand with a 2-2-0 record.
Mikael Granlund and Jake Walman each had two assists in what was the Sharks’ first game of a six-game road trip that continues Tuesday against the Washington Capitals.
Blackwood allowed four goals on just 11 shots in the Sharks’ 4-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. Not all of the goals were his fault, but it was a rare shaky performance from Blackwood in what has been a steady year for the veteran netminder.
Blackwood entered Saturday with a 4-8-3 record and a .902 save percentage for the season.
Ferraro opened the scoring at the 16:54 mark of the first period.
After taking a pass from Mikael Granlund, Ferraro held onto the puck for a few moments and drifted toward the Seattle net before he fired a shot that went off Kraken defenseman Will Borgen and into the net past goalie Joey Daccord for his second goal in three games.
It marked the fourth straight game where a Sharks defenseman scored a goal. Sharks defensemen had a combined five points Saturday.
In the Sharks’ win on Friday at SAP Center. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Ethan Cardwell all scored, marking the first time three Sharks rookies had scored in the same game since 1993.