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The nightmare
continues
Sharks drop 4th straight to open
season
The Sharks continue to celebrate October with a
Halloween themed approach to the season, but the output has been anything but
festive. Their trick or treat (minus the treat) approach to defense has been
ghoulish. Home and road games alike have been a house of horrors. Professional
athlete as a costume choice has been extremely unrealistic, especially those
who chose to go with defensive minded hockey player. Word is spreading that if
you go to the Sharks house, don't be surprised to land an Awake magazine or
some black licorice.
It's like your candy bag is full of everything
you hate, and your little brother won't fall for your lopsided offers to trade
you his good stuff, for your bad stuff. That rotten caramel apple came in the
form of a 5-2 loss in Nashville on Tuesday night, sending the Sharks to a
fourth consecutive loss to start the season.
This one looked
promising, but in the end the Sharks either don't have the talent or the
motivation to get over the hump. The big money guys aren't delivering, and the
youngsters don't have that special something to help the Sharks get past this
early slump/
Attention to detail is something the Sharks cannot afford
to overlook during their current struggles. The most key detail they can focus
on is playing defense from faceoff to whistle. That didn't happen 6 minutes
into the game, when both Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier slacked off defensively,
allowing Roman Josi to take a Curtis Sissons feed on the right side before
roofing a shot from the slot that beat goaltender Martin Jones.
Labanc's lack of hustle on the defensive end cost the Sharks against Anaheim in
San Jose's 3-1 loss to the Ducks on Saturday night. His instance on playing
zone defense rather than staying with his man has cost the Sharks twice in the
last two games.
The Sharks started a parade to the penalty box in the
2nd period, which culminated with a Brendan Dillon slashing penalty on Filip
Forsberg at 9:40. Josi made the Sharks pay with hi 2nd goal of the night less
than a minute into the power play, when he punched home a rebound after
Forsberg bounced a shot off Jones stick and the left post.
Matt
Duchene took an interference penalty at 15:06 of the period, setting up the
sharks 16th power play chance of the season. What differentiated this man
advantage from the 15 others is that San Jose actually converted on the chance.
Evander Kane returned from his 3-game suspension for abuse of an official ad
converted 6 seconds into the power play.
After the won the faceoff in
the Predators zone, Logan Couture fired a shot from the top of the left circle.
Kane was parked in front of the left post and was able to get a stick blade on
Couture's shot, redirecting it past Pekka Rinne to cut Nashville's lead to 2-1.
That's as close as San Jose would get.
Nashville unloaded on the Sharks with 3 goals in the
3rd period to put this one out of reach. 2nd year centerman Dylan Gambrell got
caught pinching after he rotated up top to help Brendan Dillon defend 2:51 into
the period. The Predators sent the puck up the left wing boards to Kyle Turris,
who walked in on Jones and squeezed a wrist shot under the goaltender's left
arm for the 3-1 lead.
San Jose packed it in at that point.
Erik Karlsson made a lazy clearing attempt at 7:24 that Nashville intercepted
at the Sharks blueline. Duchene sent a pass to Filip Forsberg on the left wing
for a one time chance that easily beat Jones. There wasn't a white jersey
within 20 feet of Forsberg, who had all day to wind up and pump his 3rd goal of
the season into the Sharks net.
Burns scored a meaningless goal with
4:23 to play after rookie Lean Bergmann poked at a loose puck to the defenseman
who was pinching from the right point. Burns stepped into the Bergmann feed for
his 1st goal of the season.
Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer elected to
pull Jones with 3 minutes left in regulation, which simple resulted in stat
padding for the Predators. Dante Fabbro scored his 1st of the season on an
empty net chance to cap the scoring and send the Sharks to their 4th
consecutive defeat.
If this level of effort continued, it's only a
matter of time before Sharks fans turn out the lights and pretend not to be
home.
Game Notes:
* The Sharks announced that they have
signed Patrick Marleau to a 1-year contract worth the league minimum, $700,000.
Marleau is expected to join the Sharks in Chicago on Thursday when San Jose
takes on the Blackhawks.
* Marcus Sorensen was an injury scratch after
suffering an undisclosed malady in Anaheim last Saturday.
* Sharks
captain Logan Couture continues to struggle as he juggles his leadership
responsibilities. He finished the game a -3, with 1 shot on goal, and was
2-for-7 on draws (29%).
* Evander Kane made his season debut after
serving his 3-game suspension for brutally hugging a linesman during the
preseason. Kane showed the most energy of any Sharks skater early, but the
doldrums even wore him down by the end of the game. Kane finished with 1 goal,
and was a -1with 5 shots on goal, adding 3 hits to his line.
* Lean
Bergmann recorded his 1st career NHL point with his assist on Brent Burns' 3rd
period goal. The youngster was rewarded with a team low 8:38 of ice time (for
all forwards). Bergmann generated 2 shots on goal and had a takeaway in his 13
shifts.
* Centerman Melker Karlsson almost managed a completely clean
stats line on his 20 shifts. The only stat the forward recorded in his 13:47 of
ice time was a single hit. No points, shots, giveaways, takeaways, blocked
shots or faceoffs. He was almost nonexistent.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| NSH |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
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| 1st period - 1, NSH,
Josi 1 (Sissons, Ellis), 6:16. |
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| 2nd period - 2, NSH,
Josi 2 (unassisted), 10:25, (pp). 3, SJ, Kane 1 (Couture, Burns), 9:40, (pp).
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| 3rd period - 4, NSH,
Turris 1 (Grimaldi), 2:51. 5, NSH, Forsberg 3 (Duchene, Granlund), 7:24. 6, SJ,
Burns 1 (Bergman, Gambrell), 15:37. 7, NSH, Fabbro 1 (Joahansen), 18:19, (en).
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| 1st period - Carrick, SJ
(fighting major), 14:00; Watson, NSH (fighting major), 14:00; Kane, SJ
(interference), 16:02. |
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| 2nd period - Granlund,
NSH (hooking), 2:57; Thornton, SJ (cross checking), 5:12; Dillon, SJ
(slashing), 9:40; Duchene, NSH (interference), 15:06; Burns, SJ (interference),
18:59; Johansen, NSH (hooking), 19:52. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
24 |
20 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| NSH - Rinne |
35 |
33 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
7 |
18 |
10 |
35 |
| NSH |
9 |
7 |
9 |
25 |
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| Bridgestone Arena -
17,251 |
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| Referees: L'Ecuyer,
St Pierre. Linesmen: Marquis, Rody. |
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