San Jose’s Tomas Hertl and Rudolfs Balcers each scored in the third period as the Sharks won their season opener, edging the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Saturday night.
Knotted at 2 to start the final frame, Hertl — who also had an assist — netted a power-play goal and Balcers scored at even strength 1:37 later to build a 4-2 lead at 5:02.
Jansen Harkins cut it to 4-3 at 13:28, but Winnipeg could not get the equalizer and lost in San Jose for the first time in five outings.
In fielding a 23-man roster consisting of seven rookies, the Sharks got a goal from veteran Andrew Cogliano in his first game with the team.
Making his NHL debut, Jasper Weatherby — a fourth-round draft pick in 2018 by the Sharks — tallied his first career goal and added an assist.
Adin Hill allowed three goals on 23 shots in his first career appearance in net for San Jose.
At 19 years, 4 days old, William Eklund — this year’s seventh overall NHL draft pick — posted an assist in his league debut and became the fifth-youngest Shark ever to play his first game.
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Copp potted goals for the Jets, who started the season 0-2 for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves in his second consecutive start.
The Sharks — the last NHL team to make their season debut — found themselves in a hole 4:20 into the contest when Dubois cleaned up a rebound on the doorstep for a 1-0 Jets lead.
The clubs tallied three times on special teams in a second period that was more energetic than the first.
With San Jose’s first power play carried over after Neal Pionk’s high-sticking penalty on Erik Karlsson, Copp cashed in from the low slot on a feed from Adam Lowry just 69 seconds in to hand the Jets a two-goal advantage.
The Sharks answered on their penalty kill by producing the season’s first goal. Cogliano’s wrister at 3:38 finished a two-on-one and cut the deficit in half.
From the left circle with San Jose on the power play, the 23-year-old Weatherby scored for the first time in the league when he zipped in a marker at 13:17 to even the match at 2.
–Field Level Media
