REALITY CHECK Sharks want to be considered an NHL elite, but loss to Toronto says otherwise
The Sharks’ Evander Kane, right, crashes into the Maple Leafs’ Jake Gardiner along the boards during Wednesday’s game in Toronto. Frederik Andersen makes a save as the Sharks’ Tomas Hertl looks for a rebound. The Toronto goaltender turned away 38 San Jose shots. TORONTO >> The ghosts of Patrick Marleau and John Tavares haunted the Sharks again.
Tavares, who flirted with the idea of joining the Sharks in the offseason before signing a sevenyear, $77 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, netted two goals and Marleau recorded his first-career tally against his former squad. The goal made Marleau the first player in NHL history to score game-winning goals against 30 different teams.
The Sharks, meanwhile, played without Timo Meier, who suffered an upper-body injury Tuesday.
Joe Pavelski provided the only good news for the Sharks, scoring his team-leading 16th goal, which gives him nine goals and 13 points in his last nine games.
Here’s what we learned as the Sharks fell to 0-2-1 on their fivegame trip with a 5-3 loss to the Maple Leafs.
SHARKS AREN’T ‘CLOSE’ TO BEING IN THE STANLEY CUP CONVERSATION WITH THE MAPLE LEAFS >> Heading toward December, the Maple Leafs (19-8) are clearly in the Stanley Cup conversation. The Sharks (12-9-5) are hoping to get there at some point.
According to Logan Couture,