Before getting to the game itself, let’s get some of the Erik Karlsson talk out of the way. It was as packed of a house as we’ve seen this season for EK’s return. The Sharks obliged everyone by giving Karlsson a hot lap during warm-up before joining him on the ice, and Peter DeBoer had him in the starting line-up.
The video tribute ran during the first TV time out, which TSN stayed with instead of going to commercial. The fans were on their feet cheering for the whole thing, and Karlsson jumped back on the ice briefly after the video for a twirl to salute the crowd in response.