National Hockey League
San Jose 2, Seattle 0
When: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Tom Chmielewski, Chris Schlenker
Linesmen: Brandon Gawryletz, Kiel Murchison
Attendance: 10988

Marc-Edouard Vlasic broke a scoreless tie in the third period and Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season as the San Jose Sharks defeated the visiting Seattle Kraken 2-0 Tuesday night.

Jan Rutta added an empty-netter with 19.9 seconds remaining as the Sharks won for the fourth time in their past five games and broke a tie with Chicago for the fewest points in the NHL.

Joey Daccord stopped 20 of 21 shots for Seattle, which had a three-game point streak (2-0-1) snapped. The Kraken missed an opportunity to move into a four-way tie with Los Angeles, St. Louis and Nashville atop the Western Conference's wild-card standings.

The game's first goal came at 7:27 of the third period. San Jose's William Eklund skated the puck down the right wing and sent a pass back to Ty Emberson at the point. Emberson immediately swung a cross-ice pass along the blue line to Vlasic, whose wrist shot made its way through a maze of players and into the upper left corner of the net past a screened Daccord.

The Kraken outshot the Sharks 13-3 in a scoreless first period.

The best chance came when Seattle's Brandon Tanev intercepted a pass in the San Jose zone, but Blackwood made a left leg pad save on Tanev's wrist shot from the slot.

San Jose's top opportunity came when Anthony Duclair charged down the right wing and split a pair of defenders to get to the net before sliding a backhander wide of the far post.

Both teams had five shots in the second, which was also without a goal.

The Kraken's Oliver Bjorkstrand rang a shot from the slot off the right post early in the period after teammate Eeli Tolvanen forced a turnover behind the San Jose net.

The Sharks played much better defensively than they did in the first meeting between the Pacific Division rivals this season, which the Kraken won 7-1 on Nov. 22 in Seattle.

Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, the team's leading scorer, missed the game after suffering an undisclosed injury in Saturday's 5-2 loss to visiting Buffalo.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Seattle   San Jose
N/A Points William Eklund 2
N/A Goals Jan Rutta 1
N/A Assists William Eklund 2
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Joey Daccord .952 Save Percentage Mackenzie Blackwood 1.000
Joey Daccord 20 Saves Mackenzie Blackwood 32
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Seattle 32 0 0-1 1-1 7 28
San Jose 22 2 0-1 1-1 7 27
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game on the road against Anaheim. The Sharks have a W/L % of .385 after a win and .243 after a loss.
  • Seattle will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Kraken have a W/L % of .524 after a win and .345 after a loss.