Sharks face back-toback games before getting five-day break
Coach: 5-day break comes at right time as team is dragging a bit
SAN JOSE — Sharks coach Pete DeBoer doesn’t need to know the itineraries of his players to realize they’re looking forward to a five-day break away from all hockey-related activities next week.
With just three wins in eight games since the end of the NHL All-Star break — marked at times by some sloppy defense and lackluster execution — the Sharks have shown signs of slowing down.
”I can’t wait for it, just based on our group,” DeBoer said. “Not me personally. I think we need it.”
Before anyone jets off to a sun-splashed beach somewhere, there’s the matter of two games and four points at stake, as the Sharks face the Arizona Coyotes on the road Saturday and have a home game against the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
The Sharks have been grinding over the last twoplus weeks, going 3-1-4 since late January, to build a slight lead in the Pacific Division over the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers.
They don’t want to see it whittled away over the course of a lost weekend. Their first game out of the break is Feb. 25 in Vancouver against the Canucks.
“We’ve worked really hard to build a little bit of a lead here in the division, but it’s small,” DeBoer said. “We talked today, at the end of the weekend, we could be up six or eight or we could be even with somebody going into the break. So it’s that tight.”
Since beating Vancouver 4-1 on Feb. 2, the Sharks have won just one of six games. In that time, not counting shootouts, the Sharks have allowed 22 goals.
Wednesday’s 6-5 overtime loss to the Panthers was particularly tough to swallow. The Sharks largely dominated possession and had a 24-9 lead in shots on goal through two periods, but were bitten by a handful of golden scoring opportunities against.
Now the Sharks hope for a return to some good habits before the break. In the eight games after the Sharks allowed four or more goals this season, they are 6-2-1 and have given up an average of 2.22 goals per game.
“We were soft in coverage, we turned the puck over too much. We were loose — that’s probably the best word for it,” DeBoer said of the Panthers game. “Historically, we’ve always been able to respond to those type of games and fix it. But, that’s on us to do that.”
The Sharks face a Coyotes team that’s playing as well right now as it has all season. Arizona has gone 73-1 — including a 3-2 shootout win at SAP Center on Feb. 4 — since a 4-3 loss to Minnesota on Jan. 19.
The Sharks’ loss to the Coyotes earlier this month was a chippy affair. There was just one fight — a spirited tilt between Brenden Dillon and Lawson Crouse — after Dillon took exception to a Crouse hit on Tomas Hertl.
But there were also four roughing penalties doled out, including one to goalie Mike Smith who charged out of the net after he thought Timo Meier brushed up against him as he froze the puck in his crease.
Perhaps emotions run high again Saturday. More than anything, though, the Sharks hope to shore things up on the defensive end and make life a bit more difficult for Smith. The 34-year-old goalie owns a 12-7-3 record, a 2.08 goals against average and a .944 save percentage in 23 games against the Sharks.
“We’re a big team, a strong team,” Sharks center Logan Couture said, “if we play that way with puck possession, they can chase us around and take penalties if they want.”
It appears Nikolay n Goldobin will make his NHL season debut Saturday. Goldobin, the 27th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, practiced on the Sharks’ third line Friday with Joel Ward and Tomas Hertl as Meier remained with the Barracuda. The Sharks practiced with just 20 players, including 12 forwards.
DeBoer said that while the team expects to call up two more players Saturday, how the Sharks practiced Friday will likely be how they line up against the Coyotes. Meier was expected to play Friday for the Barracuda in its game against Stockton.
Aaron Dell will start n against the Coyotes. In his last five games, Dell is 2-2-1 with a .923 save percentage.