SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks needed a night to feel good about themselves again after everything they experienced last week.
It didn’t quite happen Tuesday night.
On the power play with a chance to take the lead, the Sharks instead gave up a shorthanded goal to Joel Armia with 4:04 left in regulation time in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Andrew Poturalski could not control a loose puck near the Montreal blue line, resulting in a 2-on-1 the other way. Armia then beat Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev for his 10th goal of the season.
San Jose Sharks’ Collin Graf (51) high-fives the bench after scoring his first NHL goal against the Montreal Canadiens in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Collin Graf scored his first career NHL goal, and Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who lost for the eighth time in the last nine games.
Celebrini scored his 17th goal of the season on a power play to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead at the 5:52 mark of the first period, but the Canadiens responded with goals by Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook to take a 2-1 lead with 15:17 left in the second period.
Graf tied the game 2-2 with 5:09 left in the second period.
After taking a pass from Barclay Goodrow, Graf streaked down the left side of the ice and fired a wrist shot that beat Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault to the glove side, giving him his first goal after 17 career NHL games.
Graf’s goal came less than two minutes after Poturalski thought he had his first NHL goal.
Making his Sharks debut after spending the first three-plus months of the regular season in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda, Poturalski attacked what he thought was a loose puck next to the post in front of Canadiens’ goalie Sam Montembeault.
On-ice officials initially ruled that Poturalski pushed the puck and Montembeault’s pad across the goal line after Fabian Zetterlund’s shot on goal. A lengthy NHL Situation Room-initiated video review then could not determine whether Zetterlund’s initial shot entered the Montreal net, with the league saying there “was no conclusive evidence to show that the puck completely crossed the Montreal goal line.”
The Sharks’ game on Tuesday came after a tumultuous few days.
In one of their weakest efforts of the season, the Sharks were blasted by the Seattle Kraken 6-2 last Thursday. They allowed four straight goals in the second period. As a response, what was initially going to be a day off on Friday turned into a half-hour bag skate at the Sharks’ practice facility.
On Saturday, the Sharks traded forward and leading scorer Mikael Granlund and top-pair defenseman Cody Ceci to the Dallas Stars for two 2025 draft picks, including a first-rounder.
