The San Jose Sharks’ season hit rock bottom Tuesday night.
The Sharks took a four-goal lead early in the second period, only for the wheels to totally fall off in what became a disheartening 7-5 loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
The Sharks led 5-1 after Mikael Granlund scored a power-play goal at the 4:28 mark of the second period. But the Sharks sat back, lost their edge, and watched momentum completely swing the other way, as the Predators scored twice in 53 seconds midway through the second period and added three more goals in the first 8:09 of the third.
The Sharks could not generate a response as they gave up yet another third-period lead in what can easily be described as their biggest faceplant of the season.
San Jose is now 8-6-2 in games in which it has held a lead going into the third period.
The loss marked a crushing end to the Sharks’ five-game road trip, which began with an encouraging win over the Detroit Red Wings last Tuesday and was quickly followed by losses to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the New York Islanders, and the Boston Bruins.
The Sharks and Predators play each other again on Thursday in San Jose.
Macklin Celebrini, Luke Kunin, Granlund, and Jake Walman all scored in the first period as the Sharks took a 4-1 lead. Granlund then scored his second and 14th of the season as the Sharks converted a power play opportunity.
But Fedor Svechkov began the Predators’ comeback with a power play goal at the 12:40 mark of the second period. That was followed by Justin Barron at the 13:33 mark and
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