San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) stops a shot on aim by Florida Panthers heart Eetu Luostarinen (27) in the course of the first interval of an NHL hockey sport, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, in Dawn, Fla. (AP Picture/Marta Lavandier)
The Sharks couldn’t fairly sustain with one of many NHL’s most potent offensive groups Saturday and misplaced a useful defenseman within the course of.
The Sharks led by two early within the third interval however allowed objectives to Mason Marchment and Jonathan Huberdeau in regulation time and Sam Bennett on the 1:08 mark of additional time in a 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers.
The Sharks had been up 4-2 after winger Jonathan Dahlen scored his second power-play aim of the sport on the 4:50 mark of the third interval. However the Panthers turned it on after that, as Marchment and Huberdeau scored objectives 2:08 aside to tie the sport with 10:22 left in regulation time.
The sport-winner got here after Huberdeau, stationed behind the Sharks’ internet, faked an try at a lacrosse-type aim earlier than he discovered Bennett open in entrance.
Florida got here into Saturday with a league-high 118 objectives in 25 residence video games, because it now has a 23-3-0 document at FLA Reside Area.
Tomas Hertl and Matt Nieto additionally scored for San Jose, which continues its street journey Sunday in Carolina.
“We rating 4 objectives on the street, we get a degree out of a constructing it’s probably not been that forgiving this season to any visiting groups,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner mentioned. “We’ll take the positives out of it.”
The sport was performed at a dizzying tempo, rather more to the liking of the Panthers, the highest-scoring crew within the NHL with 122 objectives throughout 5-on-5 play.
The Sharks had a handful of puck administration points within the third interval, as they had been swarmed by a relentless Florida forecheck. However goalie James Reimer stopped 34 of 35 photographs by two durations and 44 for the sport to assist his crew salvage at the least a degree.
“(Reimer) performed unbelievable tonight,” Dahlen mentioned. “It’s an important hockey crew, and it’s most likely the quickest sport I’ve seen to this point in my NHL profession.” 
Defenseman Mario Ferraro was knocked out of the sport within the first interval with a facial harm.
Ferraro was within the Sharks’ zone and was defending Owen Tippett when the Panthers ahead’s tried shot on internet ramped up Ferraro’s stick and into his face with 14:40 left within the opening interval.
Ferraro instantly left the ice, holding his glove as much as his mouth. The Sharks introduced earlier than the beginning of the second interval that Ferraro wouldn't return, leaving them with 5 defensemen.
Boughner mentioned after the sport that Ferraro was being evaluated by a dentist.
“They’re making an attempt to determine what the subsequent step is right here, in order that’ll be actually all we now have tonight,” Boughner mentioned. “We’ll know extra (Sunday), but it surely’s clearly an enormous, huge harm if it’s something long-term.”
Ferraro has performed in 40 of 43 video games this season and is second on the Sharks in common time on ice at 23:54 per sport, solely trailing protection associate Brent Burns (25:56) in that division.
The one video games Ferraro missed this season had been when he was within the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4. The Sharks went 1-2-0 in these video games and entered Saturday with a 22-19-2 document.
“We’re simply hoping that it heals up good. (Ferraro) will get some good new enamel like I did, make him look a bit bit higher,” mentioned Sharks captain Logan Couture, additionally referencing his personal accident in March 2017 when a puck brought about main harm to his mouth in a sport in Nashville.
“However we’re going to overlook him. He’s been an important participant. He’s a pacesetter in that locker room and simply having his voice across the crew is certainly going to be missed for the subsequent little bit right here.”
The Sharks are already with out Erik Karlsson for the subsequent a number of weeks after the two-time Norris Trophy winner underwent surgical procedure this week to restore a small muscle tear in his left forearm.
The Sharks have Ryan Merkley with them on this journey and will have Jake Middleton obtainable to them at some point as effectively to take Ferraro’s spot on the blue line. Middleton, who's recovering from a concussion he suffered Jan. 4 in Detroit, practiced with the Sharks on Friday.
The Sharks, maybe thankfully from their standpoint, solely play another sport after Sunday earlier than they start a 12-day break, giving Ferraro some extra time to heal. The Sharks face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, and their subsequent sport after the break is Feb. 14 at residence in opposition to Evander Kane, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.