Thursday was not a great night to be a current or former Red Wings goaltender. John Gibson, traded for this summer to solve Detroit's longstanding net woes, debuted with one of the sickest-looking jersey/pads combos I've ever seen—and then promptly gave up five goals on 13 shots (and 1.48 xG) to the Canadiens before getting pulled. Gibson arguably had a better night than Alex Nedeljkovic.
Nedeljkovic, whose journey has taken him from Carolina to Detroit to Pittsburgh and now San Jose, all before reaching age 30, is an affordable veteran mostly serving to keep the crease warm for 2020 first-rounder Yaroslav Askarov as the spunky young Sharks try to put their pieces together. I'm glad he's there and has a job. Because while Ned, as he's known, is not exactly "good" or even "dependable," he mans the pipes with a whimsy I find refreshing. Every puck can be an adventure if treated like a live grenade. Even basic clears aren't safe from lowlight reels.
In San Jose's season opener hosting the Golden Knights, Nedeljkovic was steady through 58 minutes, saving 26 of 28 shots and carrying the Sharks to a 3-2 lead. Then things got extremely weird. With Vegas's net empty, the Sharks failed to clear the puck because Alexander Wennberg smacked it into the jumbotron. Then on the ensuing faceoff, William Eklund had two beautiful chances to score the empty-netter, but was nudged just wide each time. Coming back the other way, Jack Eichel lofted a little dump-in that went right to Nedeljkovic—the softest puck he'll ever get to play. And, well:
The gaffe gave the Knights a point, but the Sharks still had overtime to earn two of their own. Unfortunately for them, Ned was required to make a decision. With the puck in no man's land, Nedeljkovic skated out nearly to the blue line to play it, but lost it to Reilly Smith, who, a Shea Theodore helper later, scored the easiest goal of his life.
“Had tough nights, had bad goals go in like that before,” Nedeljkovic said. “I don’t know if it happened kind of exactly like that.”
I should hope not! This was a very silly way to lose a home opener, but it's a long season, and I have confidence that the Sharks will discover sillier ones.
