October 20, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Jake Wallman (96) skates with the puck during a game against the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center in San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Image This may be a battle of the Western Conference’s two division cellar-dwellers, but both the Chicago Blackhawks and host San Jose Sharks enter Thursday’s matchup on a winning note.
The Blackhawks hit the West Coast after snapping a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, while the Sharks opened a five-game homestand with a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. On Tuesday.
In fact, after starting the season winless in their first nine games, the Sharks earned back-to-back wins with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City on Monday.
“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 (Tuesday) for the continuous effort, the way we performed, the way we showed up and what the way we work should look. I’m proud of the group.”
It would be no exaggeration to say that it has been a difficult time for the Sharks, who are in last place in the Pacific Division. After finishing last in the league in the 2023-24 campaign, hopes were high that they could reach the bottom and turn the corner. Instead, they struggled out of the blocks.
But the two wins have made him feel better, and perhaps no one feels better than Jake Walman. The defenseman had one goal on a 3-pointer against the Kings after collecting three assists the night before in Utah.
“I think we can all contribute. In the past, we’ve done all kinds of individual work,” Walman said. “Any time we can help a forward, the biggest thing is to give them help. We have so many skilled forwards.”
Chicago, which beat the Sharks 4-2 in its first meeting of the season on Oct. 17, is playing the third of a five-game road trip that ends with a pair of matchups against the two Southern California clubs.
Beating the Avalanche and finally breaking the slip was a huge boost for the Blackhawks, who were on the other end of several close games during the stunner.
“I think we deserved what we got on Monday, and there were nights where we didn’t deserve our final fate,” coach Luke Richardson said. “We easily could have won a few more times, but I think this team and this whole organization is tired of moral wins, so (this win) was a really big step for us to get a real win and get into the league. “I remember how I did it.”
Chicago was the better team in Game 1 against Colorado and took advantage. Ryan Donato scored the first of two goals in 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 (one power play goal) in reasonable check.
“There were a lot of times in the last two games where we felt like we played pretty well, but then we got back in the game five minutes after the game ended and we found a way to not close the game,” Donato said. .
“I think we all came to the locker room after the second (period) and said we weren’t good enough. We need to back off. There’s not much to say other than just get the job done, and that’s kind of what happened.”
Chicago enters Thursday’s game tied with Nashville for last place in the Central Division.
–Field level media
