Boughner wants a solid week
San Jose Sharks coach Bob Boughner needed to hit all of the right notes when he addressed his team for the first time after they experienced their most difficult week of the season.
After an 0-3-1 week decimated the Sharks’ playoff hopes and maybe their morale, Boughner had to remind his players that they were actually doing a lot of good things in terms of defending their own zone and creating scoring chances. The final results told one story, of course, but the analytics were actually in the Sharks’ favor in a lot of recent games.
Monday’s team meeting hit on other topics, as Boughner stressed to the Sharks that couldn’t lose sight of their core values when they faced adversity like they did last week. But the bottom line is Boughner wanted to give the Sharks reasons to believe they could still make a run at a spot in the postseason.
“It’s about taking a step back today, seeing where we’re at, how many games we have, our opponents, and having just a good week,” Boughner said Monday. “We can’t think about where we’re going to be in the middle of April right now. We’ve got to worry about where we’re going to be Sunday with one good week of hockey. Things can change quick.
“Everybody’s got a heavy schedule and you’ve got to get on a run and that’s really what we’re talking about.”
The Sharks took their first step in moving past last week’s heartache with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center on Monday night. Martin Jones made 41 saves and Logan Couture and Ryan Donato both scored as the Sharks ended their four-game losing skid. The Sharks and Kings play again Wednesday.
The Sharks (12-14-4) remain in seventh place in the West Division, now nine points back of the St. Louis Blues for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Sharks play the Arizona Coyotes on Friday and Saturday as they return to Glendale for the first time since Jan. 16. The Sharks held training camp in Scottdale due to Santa Clara County coronavirus restrictions and played their first two games of the season at Gila River Arena.
Boughner said there’s one of two ways the Sharks can go from here.
One is “the path you
don’t want even to think about,” he said. “The other path — you want to fight, and stay in this thing and compete and have fun together, and enjoy coming to the rink together every day and working hard and staying in the fight.”
Twelve of the Sharks’ next 14 games are against teams that are out of a playoff spot. But even though the schedule isn’t the most taxing, at least from a competition standpoint, the Sharks probably have to earn seven points out of every five games they play for the rest of the season to have a chance at a postseason spot. That would give them between 63 and 65 points for the season.
The Sharks’ longest winning streak so far this season is three games. But, the Sharks have most of their top players available, with only Matt Nieto out and considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
“We’re going to make a push,” Jones said. “This is
a big part of our schedule here coming up and we’re not out of it, that’s for sure. So we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks. That’s definitely an opportunity for us to make up points and see where we’re at.”
Jones bounces back
Jones made some small technical adjustments in his game from the start of the season until now. His biggest change, though, has been his mental approach.
“We went through some of our analytics today, and we are playing a lot better, so that helps,” Jones said Monday night. “I’ve felt really good the last few games. I’m just trying to focus on playing, just try not to think too much.”
Jones had been playing his best hockey of the season this month. Going into another possible start Wednesday, Jones had a 3-1-1 record in six starts with a .935 save percentage and 2.20 goalsagainst average.
“Technically I think he’s playing bigger in his net,” Boughner said. “He’s coming out a little more, trying to get to the top of that blue paint and I think that’s helping his game. I know that he’s been working hard at making the proper adjustments.
“For me, it’s getting the save you need at the right time of the game, and he did that.”