In their 30 years in the NHL, they never
started a season 0-5. That can be said no more. San Jose established a new
franchise record in futility by losing for the 5th consecutive game to open the
season. Starting a 4-game road trip with a stop on Long Island, the host
Islanders continued the trend of bum-rushing the Sharks in the 2nd period,
taking a 5-2 decision at UBS Arena. Attention to detail continues to bite the
Sharks, who made mistakes in key situations that always seemed to find the back
of their net.
Sharks head coach David Quinn has been preaching speed
to the puck as his team struggles to claw out of the hole they've dug for
themselves. They do that for a portion of the game, then the pressure seems to
wane. If you need any evidence, simply look at the scoring discrepancy after
the first 20 minutes of any game.
The Sharks grabbed the 1-0 lead
12:50 into the contest when Nico Sturm lifted a shot past Semyon Varlamov from
the left side. Sturm started the sequence by driving the puck to the net from
the right win boards, but was hooked off the play. The puck cycled around the
end boards to the left side where Jaycob Megna fired the puck at the front of
the net. Varlamov made the initial stop, but the puck kicked over to Sturm who
was parked outside the left post where the new forward lifted it home for his
2nd goal as a Shark.
The little shop of horrors, also known as the 2nd
period would not disappoint.
The Islanders overtook the Sharks with
three goals in the frame, starting with a deflection goal by Anders Lee midway
through the period. Adam Pelech gathered a faceoff win on the left side, before
firing the puck in from the blueline. Pelech's shot would have gone well wide
of the net, but Anders got his stick blade out and redirected the puck past
James Reimer for his 1st goal of the season.
Zach Parise gave the
Islanders a 2-1 lead 4 minutes later, when he deflected a shot wih his left
skate past Reimer. The goal was identical to Sebastian Aho's skate-aided tally
last Friday night in the Sharks loss to Carolina. Parise established inside
position on Marc-Edouard Vlasic in front of the net and stuck his foot out as
Noah Dobson came screaming in from the right point.
San Jose looked as
if they would get to the 2nd intermission tied after Evgeny Svechnikov scored
with 2:50 remaining in the frame. The Sharks forward knocked down a Matt
Benning deflection from the front of the Islanders goal.
That would not be as San Jose surrendered another
go-ahead goal with 55.4 seconds left in the period. Oliver Wahlstrom gathered a
faceoff win on the left side, took a stride toward the slot and ripped a shot
past Reimer. The goal was defendable, but Steven Lorentz decided to slide away
from the action rather than take away Wahlstrom's shotting lane. The Islanders
winger snapped his shot from 15 feet out, slipping the shot between Reimer and
the right post.
An Anders Lee slashing penalty 1:29 into the 3rd
period provided the Sharks with a slight advantage, but Logan Couture was
called for holding 34 seconds later to negate the power play opportunity.
San Jose is 1-for-19 on the power play to start the season. The lack
of 5-on-5 scoring is not being offset by special teams opportunities, which is
setting up the team for failure. Why they can't convert on the man-advantage
comes down to one thing. Talent. The Sharks simply don't have the personnel to
be effective regardless of how many defenders are on the ice.
Cal
Clutterbuck added an empty net goal to cap the game's scoring and send the
Sharks to a new franchise record in futility.
Game Notes:
* Noah Gregor was a scratch for the second consecutive game. Oskar
Lindblom was also scratched for the first time this season. Scott Harrington
sat for the 4th consecutive game.
* James Reimer stopped 40 shots and
was the best player on the ice for San Jose. The defense continues to hang him
out to dry, and the peppering he's taking night after night is going to catch
up statistically.
* The one bright spot for San Jose continues to be
the penalty kill, which remains perfect this season. The Islanders had 3 power
play chances on the night, although one was offset by their own penalty that
overlapped a Sharks power play in the middle period.
* All of the
Sharks scoring came from the 4th line. While that may be nice for those 4th
liners, it also means the top lines are being held in check. It's no mystery
that opposing teams have had success against San Jose by snuffing out any
scoring from the top two lines. The team leaders in goals scored though 5 games
are the two players who scored for San Jose tonight: Nico Sturm and Evgeny
Svechnikov (2 goals each).
* Not only is he a goal scorer, but Nico
Sturm owned the Islanders in the faceoff circle, winning 12 of 14 draws (86%).
Other than he and Evgeny Svechnikov, who won his single draw, every other Shark
was sub-50% in the faceoff circle.
