Blackwood stopped 24 of 27 shots in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Canucks.
Pius Suter scored twice against Blackwood, with the latter of those two goals deciding the game with 26 seconds left in the third period. This was Blackwood's first loss in three starts, and he's now given up at least three goals in five of his eight outings this season. The 27-year-old netminder dropped to 2-4-2 with a 3.52 GAA and an .893 save percentage. He's twice started consecutive games, giving him some separation as the Sharks' No. 1 netminder over Vitek Vanecek. San Jose's next game is Tuesday at home versus the Blue Jackets.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Starting again Saturday
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Blackwood will guard the home net Saturday against the Canucks, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.
Blackwood has won back-to-back starts, including a 27-save effort in a 3-2 victory over Chicago on Thursday. Overall, the veteran netminder is 2-3-2 with a 3.60 GAA and an .894 save percentage through seven outings this season.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Wins again Thursday
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Blackwood stopped 28 of 30 shots in Thursday's 3-2 win over the Blackhawks.
Blackwood picked up his second win in a row, getting help from Will Smith's first two NHL goals and another Alexander Wennberg tally. The Sharks have won three games in a row after losing their first nine contests. Blackwood has a 2-3-2 record with a 3.59 GAA and an .895 save percentage over seven appearances, and he has a slight edge over Vitek Vanecek for playing time. The Sharks' next game is Saturday at home versus the Canucks.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Facing Blackhawks
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Blackwood was the first netminder off the ice at morning practice, per Max Miller of NHL.com, and is slated to defend the home crease versus Chicago on Thursday.
Blackwood picked up the overtime win Monday despite stopping only 19 of 23 shots in a 5-4 victory over Utah. The 27-year-old netminder is 1-3-2 with a 3.89 GAA and .888 save percentage. He is currently the No. 1 goaltender with the Sharks, but that may not last long, as Yaroslav Askarov is 5-0-0 with a 1.20 GAA and .959 save percentage at AHL San Jose after another brilliant performance Wednesday, stopping 36 shots in a 5-1 win over Coachella Valley. Blackwood will face the Blackhawks, who are averaging 2.70 goals per game.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Hangs on for OT win
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Blackwood stopped 19 shots in Monday's 5-4 overtime win over Utah.
UHC jumped out to a 4-1 lead through two periods, but the Sharks dominated the third as they rallied and carried Blackwood to his first win of the season. The 27-year-old netminder has had a rough start to the campaign, stumbling to a 3.89 GAA and an .888 save percentage to match his 1-3-2 record, but Vitek Vanecek (4.00 GAA, .869 save percentage) hasn't been any better. Meanwhile, Yaroslav Askarov has a 1.25 GAA through his first four appearances for San Jose's AHL club. It's only a matter of time before one of Blackwood or Vanecek lose their spot to the franchise's goalie of the future.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Starting against Utah
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Blackwood will serve as the starting goaltender for Monday's road game against Utah, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.
Blackwood has yet to enter the win column over five outings this season, and he's settled for losses in regulation in each of his last three appearances. In total, he's posted a 3.88 GAA and .897 save percentage, but he'll attempt to bounce back Monday.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Struggles early in loss
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Blackwood allowed three goals on 30 shots in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Kings.
Blackwood put in a decent performance aside from the first 12 minutes, when he allowed all three goals. The Sharks made an effort at a comeback but fell short. Blackwood was the first goalie to start back-to-back games for the Sharks this season, though he remains winless at 0-3-2 with 17 goals allowed on 165 shots over his five appearances. The Sharks are back in action Saturday at Vegas -- neither Blackwood nor Vitek Vanecek would be a good fantasy option in that matchup.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Set to start Thursday
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Blackwood is expected to start on the road against LA on Thursday, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.
Blackwood is searching for his first win of the 2024-25 campaign after starting the season with a record of 0-2-2 along with a 4.10 GAA and an .896 save percentage across four appearances. The Kings have gotten off to a middling start -- they have a 3-2-2 record and are in a three-way tie for 15th offensively with 3.14 goals per game.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Decent in loss
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Blackwood stopped 37 of 39 shots in Tuesday's 3-1 loss to the Ducks. The third goal was an empty-netter.
Blackwood remains winless (0-2-2) through four appearances, but this was much better than when he allowed five goals on 18 shots versus the Jets last Friday. The 27-year-old netminder will continue to struggle to earn wins behind a poor Sharks team, and he can't be counted on to provide steady ratios. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky has rotated his goalies evenly so far, so it's likely Blackwood will watch Thursday's game versus the Kings from the bench before returning to the crease Saturday in Vegas.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: First off Tuesday
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Blackwood was the first goalie off at morning skate Tuesday, indicating he's the likely starter against the Ducks, according to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.
Blackwood is off to a rough start to the season -- he's 0-1-2 with a .875 save percentage and a whopping 4.88 GAA over three outings. The Ontario native will face an Anaheim club that's scoring 2.40 goals per game across five outings. If Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek continue to struggle for San Jose, Yaroslav Askarov could be recalled from AHL San Jose and given a chance to win a role in the crease.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Pulled in Friday's loss
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Blackwood surrendered five goals on 18 shots in Friday's 8-3 loss to the Jets.
Blackwood was pulled early in the second period, and Vitek Vanecek took over, allowing three goals on 18 shots the rest of the way. This was the first time Blackwood failed to at least keep the Sharks competitive. He's allowed 12 goals on 96 shots over his three appearances, going 0-1-2. The Sharks have alternated goalies so far this season, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Vanecek make the next start at home versus the Avalanche on Sunday.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Between pipes Friday
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Blackwood will tend the twine on the road against the Jets on Friday, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.
Blackwood has suffered overtime defeats in each of his two appearances this season while posting a 3.33 GAA and .910 save percentage. The 27-year-old backstop will continue to split the workload with Vitek Vanecek for the time being, though top prospect Yaroslav Askarov could be in the mix at some point down the line.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Good performance in shootout loss
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Blackwood allowed two goals on 38 shots in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Stars.
Blackwood kept the Sharks in a game against a tough opponent. He didn't have anything left at the end, letting three straight Stars to score in the shootout. Blackwood has allowed seven goals on 78 shots while going 0-0-2 to begin the year, but he's at least putting up a competitive effort under a heavy workload. With a road back-to-back up next -- Thursday in Chicago and Friday in Winnipeg -- expect Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek to each get a start in the near future.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: First goalie to leave ice
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Blackwood was the first goalie to exit the ice Tuesday, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports, indicating he'll patrol the blue paint against Dallas on the road.
Blackwood gave up five goals on 40 shots in his season debut versus the Blues, suffering an overtime loss. It figures to be a season-long battle between the 27-year-old netminder and Vitek Vanecek for the starting role in San Jose -- not to mention the possible addition of Yaroslav Askarov to the goalie mix.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Lets lead slip away
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Blackwood allowed five goals on 40 shots in Thursday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Blues.
Blackwood was sharp through two periods, but the Blues pushed back in the third and tied the game with three goals in that frame. Brayden Schenn completed the visitors' comeback 45 seconds into overtime. The big takeaway from Opening Night in San Jose is the 40 shots against -- Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek figure to face a lot of rubber behind a lackluster defense this year. In leagues that value saves, that will be a plus, but Blackwood's ratios are going to be unappealing for the majority of fantasy managers, and wins will be hard to come by as well.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Slated starter for Thursday
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Blackwood is expected to start at home against St. Louis on Thursday, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.
Blackwood had a 10-25-4 record, 3.45 GAA and .899 save percentage in 44 games with the Sharks in 2023-24. Although he's getting the Opening Night assignment, Vitek Vanecek is likely to challenge him in goal, and the two netminders might split San Jose's starts fairly evenly in 2024-25.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Set for preseason finale
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Blackwood was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, indicating he will guard the road goal in Saturday's exhibition contest versus Vegas.
Blackwood surrendered three goals on 25 shots in Tuesday's 3-1 preseason loss to Utah. Yaroslav Askarov likely isn't out of the mix for NHL playing time despite being sent down to AHL San Jose on Friday. However, until he is brought up from the minors, Blackwood will compete for starts with Vitek Vanecek to begin the 2024-25 campaign.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Leaks five goals in win
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Blackwood allowed five goals on 36 shots in Saturday's 6-5 preseason win over the Golden Knights.
Blackwood didn't play well, but the Sharks' third-period comeback spared him from taking the loss. The 27-year-old played behind a mix of NHL and AHL players in the contest. Blackwood gave up 10 goals on 79 shots over three preseason contests. He will share the crease with Vitek Vanecek to begin 2024-25, though it remains to be seen if one goalie will work his way into a starting role.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: Loses to Utah
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Blackwood allowed three goals on 25 shots in Tuesday's 3-1 preseason loss to Utah.
Blackwood gave up a power-play goal to Sean Durzi and a pair of third-period tallies to Kailer Yamamoto. The Sharks didn't play a particularly strong game despite having over half of their likely Opening Night roster on the ice. The playing-time outlook still isn't clear yet for the Sharks' goalies, as Blackwood, Vitek Vanecek and Yaroslav Askarov (lower body) are all in camp. Regardless of who emerges as the starter, fantasy managers in most formats can wait to see how the team performs before taking a chance on a San Jose goalie.
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Sharks' Mackenzie Blackwood: In net Tuesday
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Blackwood was the first goalie off the ice for the Sharks' morning skate, indicating he'll be between the pipes for Tuesday's home preseason game versus Utah, Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
Blackwood is contending with Yaroslav Askarov and Vitek Vanecek for San Jose's starting gig in 2024-25. Blackwood was a second-round selection by the Devils in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. The 27-year-old is coming off the second-largest workload of his career in 2023-24 -- he appeared in 44 regular-season contests, posting a record of 10-25-4 with an .899 save percentage and a 3.45 GAA for the Sharks.
