Star-laden team needs to measure up to ‘Buy-in’ slogan
BOSTON >> The Sharks have been wearing some new hoodies before and after practices and morning skates this year. They’re, of course, teal and bright, and below the Sharks logo reads a simple slogan. Buy-in.
Right now, as the Sharks get set to face the red-hot Boston Bruins today to finish off a five-game road trip, one wonders if everyone has gotten the message.
A dismal 5-2 loss to the rebuilding Ottawa Senators on Sunday dropped the Sharks’ record to 4-7-1, the farthest they’ve been below a .500 points percentage at this point in a season in a since 2003-04.
The Sharks are a team dotted with stars, with three or even four players that might be in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day. But once again, when things went south like they did in the second period after the Senators took a 3-1 lead, too many Sharks players went off on their own direction to try and solve things themselves.
“We found ourselves in a hole and then I didn’t think we handled it well from there,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s hard playing from behind. We started to open up and push too hard, and it comes back down your throat and that’s what happened tonight.”
After the Sharks were hammered by the Senators 6-2 on Dec. 1, 2018 in Erik Karlsson’s first game back in the city he called home for nine seasons, they held a team meeting in Montreal the following day.
Sure, a roster change was made as Radim Simek replaced Joakim Ryan in the lineup that went against the Canadiens that night. But the biggest thing was that everyone got on the same page, and yes, bought in to what DeBoer and his staff were preaching.
At last, after a substandard 12-10-5 start for a team that began with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, the Sharks began to take off.
“I think what worked for us going into that Montreal game was everybody decided and made up their minds they want to buy in to what we’re doing here and what their role is,” Sharks winger Evander Kane said.
“We’ve had some guys do that and some guys haven’t done that. To win in this league you need all 20 guys going. If we make our minds up and decide to play the way we know we can and the way we have to play to win games, then we’ll be a really good team.”
The Sharks feel they’ve got the group right now that can repeat history. But several of their top players have under-performed so far, players that have to be great for the Sharks to have a chance on a nightly basis.
Captain Logan Couture now has nine assists but has just one goal after he had 27 last season, 15 of which coming on the road. Timo Meier has two goals, and Tomas Hertl has three. The six defensemen that dressed on Sunday have combined for four goals and 19 assists.
Add it all up and the Sharks are ranked 26th in the NHL right now with 19 even strength goals, and 23rd in average goals per game (2.58).
“We didn’t finish around their net like we’re capable of. But that’s also been the story this season, we’re not finishing,” Couture said. “I can’t be sitting at one goal right now. (Hertl) is at three, (Meier) is at two. We’ve got to score some more goals. We’re 12 games in and I can’t be sitting at one goal.”