Upcoming slate will put Sharks to the test
SJ averages 4 games a week until May 8
The Sharks have 18 games left this season. Starting with their two-game set with the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and Saturday, they’ll play an average of four times a week until May 8.
So it shouldn’t be difficult to move on from Tuesday’s loss.
After winning four straight last week, the Sharks laid an egg two days after Easter, losing 5-1 to the last-place Anaheim Ducks at SAP Center and wasting an opportunity to make up ground on the idle Arizona Coyotes for the fourth playoff spot in the West Division.
Entering Wednesday, the Sharks and St. Louis Blues remained tied for fifth place with 38 points each, five points back of the Coyotes. The Sharks and Blues have 18 games remaining, and the Coyotes have 17.
“Those were valuable points for us, and we all knew that,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “Sometimes you think things might be easy, you put your guard down, and there’s no game that’s easy.”
How the Sharks handle their next four games will likely determine whether they can stay in the mix for the postseason.
After the series with the Kings, the Sharks play the Ducks again next Monday and Wednesday, their last two games against a team that right now has a points percentage below .500. After that, the schedule gets appreciably harder, with three games each against the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights — two teams that already have plans for the postseason — all from April 16-24.
In fact, every team they play after April 14 is now in a playoff spot. They also have four games left with the West Division-leading Colorado Avalanche and four games left with the Coyotes.
They won’t have a chance if they’re unable to learn a lesson from Tuesday’s letdown.
“The last couple weeks, we‘ve played really good hockey, and we’re still right there, hunting for a spot in the playoffs,” Sharks center Tomas Hertl said. “But it’s for sure a tough night. Maybe we thought it would come easy because it’s Anaheim. We know they’ve had a tough year, but they came and played harder than us. That’s why they won.
“We have another two days and then it’s 18 games in a row. We have to forget about (Tuesday) and get ready because we’re playing every other day for the rest of the season. If want to make the playoffs, we have to (gain) points every night. It can’t be one night on, one night off.”
This would be a good time for some of the Sharks’ highest-profile players to come to the forefront.
Logan Couture, after a torrid start to the season with 13 goals in 23 games, has one goal in his past 15. Brent Burns continues to chew up big minutes and has been much improved defensively, but now hasn’t scored in 17 games. Erik Karlsson has two goals in his past 13.
“We’re certainly a team, we can’t have three, four, five guys play ordinary,” Boughner said without mentioning anyone specific after Tuesday’s loss. “We need everybody going. We need our big guys going, and I don’t think we had that.”
The positive for the Sharks is that they have more of a foundation from which to draw from than they had earlier this season when they were still lacking an identity. They have a blueprint for success, and it’s not overly complex. They have to outwork teams to give themselves any chance.
Tuesday night, the Sharks looked a step slow in the first few shifts, easing into the game rather than trying to take charge. As has been discovered this season, the Sharks can’t afford to show up late and still expect to win. If hockey games were the same as mulligans, the Sharks have effectively used theirs.
“On our win streak, we proved to ourselves how we have to play, so we have to get back to that,” Sharks forward Patrick Marleau said. “Playing hard, winning 50-50 battles, playing for each other and bringing that intensity. That’s why we went on that roll there, and we were lacking that.”
“We’ll get back at it. We’ve got a lot of guys that care in there,” Boughner said. “This is just one of those nights, and unfortunately it happened at home. But we’re not going to win every game all the way in for the rest of the season. We’ve got to find a way to get points next game and reset.”