Sharks looking to establish consistent lines
Center Logan Couture could look to his left side during games over the past few years and see the Sharks’ all-time leading scorer in Patrick Marleau.
Such consistency on the Sharks’ second line — or third or fourth lines, for that matter — has been harder to find so far this season.
As Marleau scored three goals in his first five games in Toronto, Couture has already played with a handful of different wingers in the Sharks’ first four games. San Jose has produced just four even-strength goals so far and through Sunday, was tied for 27th in the NHL with an average of two goals per game.
It appears Couture will have Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl as his wingers for at least the start of Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, as the Sharks (1-3) hope to develop some chemistry up front and close out their five-game homestand on a positive note. Couture so far has one power-play goal and other heavy-minute players like Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns have combined for three assists.
“No one’s scoring. You could say our line’s not scoring and we’re not, but no one is,” Couture said Monday. “As a team, we’ve got to find ways to create some more offense.”
Karlsson was moved to the Sharks’ second line with Couture and Hertl for the third period of Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders. The trio created a handful of scoring chances as the Sharks, down one goal, looked for the equalizer. The Islanders instead got an empty-net goal from Cal Clutterbuck and picked up a 3-1 win.
“I think we had a lot of opportunities,” Karlsson said. “We got energy from each other. Just keep it going.”
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer saw enough good things from the workmanlike Karlsson to give him another look on the second line against the Canadiens.
“(Melker) tends to drag the work ethic of the guys he’s with along with him up whenever I stick him in,” DeBoer said. “I stuck him in there with those guys in the third and that line looked dangerous, and he earned the right to stay there.
“He’s a guy we use a lot of times for that. Guys aren’t going, we put him on their line and he drags them along, which is a great characteristic to have.”
DeBoer isn’t taking anyone out of the lineup after the Sharks outshot the Islanders 41-23, which included 35 shots at even strength.
In Monday’s practice, Boedker was on the third line with Chris Tierney and Timo Meier and Joonis Donskoi formed a fourth line with fellow winger Jannik Hansen and center Ryan Carpenter.
“If we play the way we played last game, we’re going to score,” DeBoer said. “We’ve talked about this before. There’s no secret to it. Keep with it and keep doing things the right way.”
• DeBoer said it’s doubtful that defenseman Paul Martin will join the Sharks on their upcoming fivegame road trip.
Martin, 36, had offseason ankle surgery but suffered a setback last week after. He skated lightly Monday morning. The Sharks travel Wednesday and play New Jersey on Friday, against the New York Islanders on Saturday and the New York Rangers on Monday. They then conclude the trip with games against Boston on Oct. 26 and Buffalo two days later.
Martin played in the Sharks’ first two games, but averaged just under 14 minutes of ice time per night, including 10:55 of ice time Oct. 7 against Los Angeles. On Oct. 10, Martin left practice after just 10 to 15 minutes and was placed on injured reserve two days later. The Sharks’ first game after the road trip is Oct. 30 against Marleau and the Maple Leafs.
Martin’s absence likely means more ice time for Joakim Ryan, who played alongside Brent Burns and has averaged 20:24 of ice time in his first two NHL games.