Killer mistake costs Sharks in gut-wrenching loss to Toronto

The Sharks had hoped that the epic and untimely turnovers that had haunted them for most of the first eight weeks of the season were in the rearview mirror.

Then another one cropped up Wednesday, committed by a player hardly known for such egregious mistakes.

A cross-ice pass in the neutral zone by Tomas Hertl intended for Timo Meier was intercepted by Toronto Maple Leafs forward David Kampf, starting a sequence that would end with Pierre Engvall’s go-ahead goal with 2:27 left in the third period in what would become a 3-1 Sharks loss at Scotiabank Arena.

Kampf sent a pass to Alex Kerfoot, who put a shot on goal that was saved by Aaron Dell. But the rebound came straight to Engvall, who scored his third of the season to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead.

Mitch Marner then scored an empty-net goal with 1:11 left in the third period, extending his points streak to 18 games and sealing the Sharks’ fourth loss in the last five games.

“It’s all on me,” Hertl told reporters after the game. “I cost us two points because I made a stupid play.”

Dell, in his first NHL start in 10 months, had 29 saves, including six on the penalty kill, as the Sharks mostly went step-for-step with the Maple Leafs (15-5-5), who entered Wednesday in second place in the Atlantic Division.

Matt Nieto scored the only goal for the Sharks (8-14-4), who dropped to 1-1-0 on a four-game road trip that started Tuesday with a 4-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens. San Jose next plays Saturday in Ottawa and Sunday in Buffalo.

“Obviously it’s a turnover that we’d like to have back and he’d like to have back. You could see it on his face the minute that it happened,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “But those things happen in the game.”

The Maple Leafs opened the scoring at the 4:19 mark of the second period, as Auston Matthews established position in front of the Sharks’ net and redirected a pass from Mac Hollowell past Dell.

The Sharks got that goal back at the 7:26 mark of the second. Logan Couture took a pass from Nick Cicek and skated behind the Maple Leafs and passed in front to Nieto, who snapped a shot past Ilya Samsonov for his sixth goal of the season, matching his total from 70 games last season.

The Sharks killed all three penalties they took Wednesday against the Leafs, improving upon what was already the best penalty kill in the NHL.

Going into Wednesday’s game, the Sharks had killed 91.2% (62 of 68) of the penalties they had taken this season. Starting with their 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars, the Sharks, before the game in Toronto, had killed 25 of 27 penalties (92.6%), which has helped them to a 5-4-1 record in that time.

Dell was making his first NHL start since Jan. 25, 2022, when he faced 47 shots as a member of the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Dell’s last start for the Sharks before Wednesday came when the Sharks played in Chicago against the Blackhawks on March 11, 2020, a day before the NHL and other sports shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dell made 10 saves in the first period which was played at a breakneck pace, which seemingly favored a Toronto team that entered the game with a 10-1-3 record this November. Marner had played a huge role in Toronto’s success, with six goals and 17 assists in a 17-game point streak.

The Sharks finished the month with a 5-6-4 record as they came into Wednesday in seventh place in the Pacific Division.

Injury updates

Defenseman Mario Ferraro remains out indefinitely, but the Sharks could get two other veteran players back soon, possibly by the end of their road trip this weekend.

Quinn said Wednesday that forward Nico Sturm is getting “very close” to a return from an upper-body injury and that goalie James Reimer could be available to play either Saturday or Sunday.

Reimer was placed on injured reserve Monday but he, Sturm, and Ferraro are all on the Sharks’ trip, which concludes with games against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Ferraro’s timeline for a return is less clear. He was placed on IR on Saturday with a lower-body injury, one day after he blocked four shots in a game against the Los Angeles Kings, and would be eligible to be activated prior to the Sharks’ game with the Senators. Quinn has described the defenseman as being week-to-week.

“I honestly can’t give you an exact time, because it’s (about) pain tolerance and he’s a tough kid, so we’ll see,” Quinn said. “It’d be irresponsible for me to tell you when he could come back. I honestly have no idea.”

Sturm, 27, has missed the Sharks’ last five games, recovering from a head injury he suffered in a Nov. 19 game against the New York Rangers.