THEY’RE BUYING IN
Sharks beginning to play the Boughner way after four games
It took some time — and more than one speech and video presentation from coach Bob Boughner — but the Sharks now have something of a blueprint for what they need to do to match up with quality opponents.
After they were hounded by Boughner and his staff in recent days, the Sharks on Wednesday corrected some of the mistakes they made earlier this season and headed into their weekend series with the Minnesota Wild with a little bit of momentum.
Martin Jones made 23 saves and Tomas Hertl scored in the shootout as the Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 to earn a series split against what’s perceived to be one of the top teams in the West Division.
“What we’ve talked about is not beating ourselves, giving ourselves a chance,” Boughner said, “and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”
The third period Wednesday might have been the Sharks’ best this year. Although they didn’t score on two power play opportunities, they outshot the Blues 14-4.
“In the third period, we played the style of hockey we want to play,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said. “Obviously throughout the game, there was a lot of penalties back and forth and it was tough to get a flow going, but I liked our third period for sure.”
Marcus Sorensen also scored for the Sharks (2-2-0), who open the two-game set with the Wild today.
“We knew this trip was going to be a tough trip,” Boughner said. “More than anything, as a coach, you’re trying to sell a certain style of play. We’re talking about structure, details and doing the right things at the right times with the puck.
“It’s a little easier sell when you get a hard-fought win.”
Takeaways from Wednesday night:
ERIK KARLSSON SHINES >> Maybe he was motivated after what he read and heard earlier this week, or perhaps the rust of a long offseason was wearing off, but Erik Karlsson was the Sharks’ best skater against the Blues — a good sign after some uneven performances through San Jose’s first three games.
Karlsson didn’t register a point against the Blues but was moving around the ice exceptionally well — maybe better than at any point last season — as he served as a catalyst for a handful of scoring opportunities. He had nearly 30 minutes of ice time and remains the league leader in that category.
”Just making the right plays,” Boughner said of Karlsson. “You can tell that he simplified it a little bit, and he wasn’t trying
to thread passes through people’s feet. He was just making the easy play and following the play up and I think that’s the best that he’s been for sure.”
Boughner said earlier this week he wanted Karlsson to simplify his game and take fewer unnecessary risks. Don’t always go for the home run, Boughner said, and look for a few more singles.
We’re not sure if Karlsson likes baseball, but we’re positive he doesn’t want to act like a robot on the ice, and Boughner probably doesn’t want that, either. So there is perhaps a balancing act between letting Erik be Erik and asking for some more sensible plays, especially in certain situations.
It had to be slightly nervy, though, to see Karlsson jump up into the rush to create a 3-on-2 in the third period while the Sharks were killing a penalty to Evander Kane. It almost paid off, as Karlsson’s redirect of a Logan Couture pass went off the post beside Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.
“There’s nobody like him, right? I mean, he can do everything,” Sharks winger Ryan Donato said of Karlsson. “He’s a fantastic player and obviously a guy that you want to learn from him. He finds plays, he creates space, he does a lot of things that even to hockey players, it’s hard to understand.”
DEPTH CONTRIBUTIONS >> The Sharks have been looking all season long for their bottom two forward lines to make an impact. It finally happened Wednesday, as Sorensen scored in the second period to give the Sharks some badly needed production from their bottom six forward group.
Boughner scratched Noah Gregor and Fredrik Handemark after Monday’s loss and inserted Dylan Gambrell and Stefan Noesen into the lineup. Patrick Marleau moved to the middle to center a speedy line with Sorensen and Matt Nieto, and John Leonard was moved from the top line to the Gambrell/Noesen line.
Boughner liked what he saw overall, and it’s probably a safe bet to see those same lines intact for Friday’s game in St. Paul.
“I liked Gambrell’s line and I liked Patty’s line, so they were taking good shifts and had energy,” Boughner said. “(Sorensen) got his nose to the net there. I believe the third fourth lines created some of our best (offensive) zone shifts tonight when we needed it. They jumped over the boards and they played a little bit of a blue collar style game, which was perfect for us.”