S.J. off to 0-2 start for 1st time since ’05
The Sharks didn’t figure to be looking up at the expansion Golden Knights this season, but after two games that’s exactly the case.
While Vegas has gone on the road to win the first two games in franchise history, the Sharks have started by losing their first two for the first time since 2005-06.
Anze Kopitar scored two goals as the Los Angeles Kings handed the sloppy Sharks a 4-1 loss Saturday night in front of an announced sellout crowd of 17,562 at SAP Center.
“That was just horrible,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “You can’t make excuses because that was a very, very poor effort from the first minutes to the 60th minute, from the power play to the penalty kill. It was just garbage hockey from us.”
San Jose was outshot 37-25, and its power play went 0-for-4.
“We haven’t played well enough to win games,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “This is a hard league. You have to pay a price to win games, and we haven’t done enough of that.”
A poor first period turned into a gong show for the hosts in the second. The Kings scored the only two goals of the period to take a 4-1 lead to the third. But, in truth, both goals last touched Sharks’ sticks before slipping behind goalie Martin Jones.
Jones was lifted 14:05 into the middle period after allowing four goals for a second straight outing to start the season. His numbers are identical in both games: 30 shots against and 26 saves.
“Obviously, I’d like to play better, but show up Monday, have a good practice and we’ll go from there,” Jones said.
The disastrous second started with the Sharks having to kill off a third straight minor and then failing to convert on a power play when the top unit surrendered a breakaway shorthanded chance by Dustin Brown, who hit the post. Then it really got bad. The Kings were dominating the play, but held only a onegoal edge until Kopitar let go with a wrist shot from along the left boards that hit off any one of three Sharks — Brent Burns’ extended stick, Brenden Dillon’s body or Joe Thornton’s beard — as the puck changed course and whizzed past Jones at 12:07. Kopitar’s second of the night made it 3-1.
Then, just 1:58 later, Jones left a juicy rebound in front of the crease on a Kings’ dump-in. Dillon crashed down, but the Sharks didn’t communicate who was going to handle the puck. Before you knew it, Melker Karlsson accidentally tapped it into the open net behind Jones.
Nick Shore was credited with the Kings’ goal and backup goalie Aaron Dell was summoned to replace Jones.
“I respect that everyone is coming to the rink ready to play, but we’re missing something,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “A lot of us wanted to have good summers, and I think a lot of us did. But now that that’s happened we’ve got to have a good season. … We’re only two games in, we’re not panicking by any means, but we need results. And that’s on us as players.”