Happy New Year, Sharks fans! The Sharks kicked off 2026 with a road trip to New Hampshire to face off against the Jr. Mountain Kings in a two-game series.
On Friday, the Jr. Mountain Kings kicked off the scoring late in the second, but the Sharks answered back with Spencer Nicoloff finding the back of the net on the power play. The Jr. Mountain Kings scored the next three goals to give them a solid lead. Nicoloff scored again in the third, also on the power play, but that wasn’t enough. The Sharks fell to New Hampshire 5-2. Nicoloff’s two power-play goals earned him the second star of the week in the East.
After Friday’s loss, the Sharks came back with some jump in their game Saturday as possession of first place was on the line. Eli McCarthy kicked off the scoring for the Sharks in the second period. Wyatt Strahan, Sean Bailey, and Brendan Dalton also added to the scoring in the second, sending the game knotted at 4 all headed into the second intermission. With 7:25 left in the third, Gustav Martinsson capitalized on a rebound off a shot from the point by James Steinberg to give the Sharks the go-ahead goal, and that would be all they would need. The Sharks defeated the Jr. Mountain Kings 5-4.
The Sharks are back in Long Beach this Wednesday to take on the Norwich Sea Captains. Puck drop is at 1:00pm.
