TIME FOR A CHANGE
GM Wilson hoping new coaching staff can fix Sharks’ offensive, defensive problems
SAN JOSE » Having seen the Sharks lose their fifth consecutive game, including four straight on the road, general manager Doug Wilson said Thursday he finalized his decision to fire Pete DeBoer the day before on the team’s flight home from Nashville.
“I was sitting there and you could feel it,” Wilson said. “We were feeling pretty good about ourselves prior to that trip. But there was something that was lingering, There was something that wasn’t quite right.”
Wilson discussed the reasons for his dismissal of DeBoer at an afternoon news conference at SAP Center at the same time the Sharks introduced Bob Boughner as interim head coach. The Sharks on Wednesday also fired assistant coaches Steve Spott, Dave Barr and Johan Hedberg, replacing them with Roy Sommer, Mike Ricci and Evgeni Nabokov.
Wilson did not say how long Boughner, the head coach of the Florida Panthers from 2017-19, will have the interim tag, but he was calling the shots from the bench Thursday night in the Sharks’ home game against the New York Rangers.
“This is all about right now,” Wilson said.
The Sharks lead the NHL in allowing scoring chances right in front of the net and have been the NHL’s most penalized team in the league through the first two-plus months of the season.
Wilson also saw an overall lack of energy, as the Sharks had to work to recover from an 4-10-1 start to get back to .500 overall. The amount of penalties the team has taken has also played a role in the lack of offense, particularly at even strength.
“My job is to find solutions and say how can we get that back? How can we get that juice and energy and joy,” Wilson said. “When you get that feeling, it’s contagious and you can put games together. When you’re trying to scratch and claw and just stay in the game, that’s sometimes one thing that’s missing.”
The Sharks (15-16-2) entered Thursday’s game in sixth place in the Pacific Division, five points back of the second wild- card spot in the Western Conference. With the Sharks starting a seven- game homestand, there was an urgency to make a change.
“We couldn’t really have it slide any further,” Wilson said. “It was just a feeling that it was the time something was needed.”
The Sharks were in a similar position in after two months last season when they had a 12-10-5 record after a 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 1. After a team meeting, DeBoer inserted Radim Simek for the following night’s game in Montreal and the Sharks won seven of their next eight games.
“What it is that changes that? It’s a moment, it’s a belief. Sometimes bringing coaches in does that,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t make me happy that it might be what was needed. It’s not that Pete or anyone did anything wrong, it’s just sometimes maybe that little jolt.”
The Sharks have the NHL’s top-ranked penalty kill at 88.3% but have been shorthanded a leaguehigh 120 times. During 5- on- 5 play, the Sharks have scored 58 goals and have allowed 88, the second-worst differential in the NHL.
The Sharks’ team save percentage is .887, thirdworst in the NHL behind New Jersey (. 884) and Detroit (. 876). Entering Thursday, Jones, who will start against the Rangers, had a .891 save percentage in 26 games and Aaron Dell was at .893 in 11 games.
“It’s not rocket science to figure out that you need to take care of those two areas of the ice,” Wilson said of the slot. “If you’re defending those areas really well, and you’re creating in the offensive zone, you’re going to have a good 5- on- 5 team.
“Our goals- against differential is horrendous, and that tells you we’re not doing the things necessary to be successful in this league long-term.”
Boughner said he wanted to institute some system changes to the Sharks that he feels will cut down on scoring chances in the slot and lead to greater creativity on offense.
“We are going to have a different look offensively,” Boughner said. “I remember when I was here (as an assistant from 2015-2017), we were a team that outshot you and attacked you, put you under pressure all night. It came off the forecheck, it would come off our O-zone play.
“We jumped on teams and we never let them have a breath. Right now, there’s not enough of that. We’ve got to get back to that attack mode, get more bodies in front of the net and more pucks to the net.”
Boughner said Sommer will be coaching the defensemen and the power play, Ricci will coach the forwards and the penalty kill, and Nabokov, the Sharks’ all-time winningest goalie, will work with Jones and Dell.
“We’ve just got to take care of that high- danger area a little more and give Jones and Dell more support,” Boughner said. “It’s not saying it’s not on them as well. Nabby coming in, is a great voice for those guys and I think he’s going to challenge both those guys.”
Several Sharks players are not enjoying the same type of seasons they had last year. Logan Couture leads the Sharks with 29 points, which is tied for 24th in the NHL. Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns, needed to be a major part of the Sharks’ offense this season, have a combined eight goals and 45 points.
Burns led the Sharks with 83 points last season but does not have a point in his last nine games and has 21 points in 33 games this season.
” Our job is to put our best players in positions to succeed,” Wilson said. “We’ve got guys who have had a lot of success and put up a lot of numbers in this league. If their numbers are down, and you can tweak or adjust how they will flourish, they will look at it.”
Wilson said he went to DeBoer’s house Wednesday to deliver the news in person and said it was a “really good conversation.”
“I think Pete will take a little time, fill his tank a little bit,” Wilson said. “He is a very good coach and he will be back in this league in no time at all. He put his everything into this.”