Sharks drop 5-1 decision to Bruins.
BOSTON >> The Sharks never really gave themselves a chance Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins, losing 5-1 at TD Garden to bring an unceremonious end to a fivegame road trip and one of the uglier opening months of the regular season in recent team history.
Martin Jones, under siege for most of the night, had 36 saves as the Sharks finished with the road trip with a 1-3-1 record and ended the month of October with
a 4-8-1 record.
Continuing a nearly seasonlong problem, the Sharks had to kill five minor penalties in the first two periods and eight for the game. They had 45 minutes of penalties in a chippy third period alone, as Barclay Goodrow, Logan Couture and Evander Kane all received 10 minute misconducts, and coach Pete DeBoer was ejected at the 12:10 mark.
“We’re a little fragile right now, and you can see that,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to help ourselves out, too, At the end of a road trip and you take eight minor penalties and five in the first two periods against the best power play in the league. I think we have to be smarter in helping ourselves.
“I don’t question that our hearts are in the right players. We’ve got guys that over my four years here that have gotten deep in the playoffs, to a Stanley Cup
Final, that are warriors. I would never question their effort.”
The Sharks players say do not want to see changes to the coaching staff or personnel.
“Oh yeah, absolutely the answers are in this room. That’s not a question and that’s not a doubt in my mind,” Couture said. “I don’t think it’s a doubt in anyone’s mind. I think a lot of guys in here are obviously frustrated. We’re upset individually how we’re playing, we’re upset as a team. At times you could say it was almost embarrassing out there.
“They were taking it to us for a lot of that game. It hurts your pride. As an NHL player you’re a proud person, you’re a proud athlete to play in this league. Games like that hurt, but it’s how you respond. And we need to respond. It’s been too long now. We’ve got to respond and play up to our capabilities individually and as a team.”
Two nights after a disheartening 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, whom no one is confusing for a playoff team, the Sharks once again dug themselves a hole they couldn’t escape.
The Sharks trailed 2-0 in the first period after power-play goals by David Pastrnak and David Krejci, and managed just nine even-strength shots on goal for the game. The Bruins poured 34 shots on goalie Jones in the first two periods, with 17 coming on the power play .
Brent Burns had the Sharks’ lone goal, a power-play marker 1:31 into the second period. But the Bruins’ Charlie Coyle responded with an even-strength goal 3:50 later, soon after a Tomas Hertl penalty expired, and Chris Wagner and Brandon Carlo added goals later in the second period to round out the scoring.
“It’s not easy. We’ve got to figure it out, we’ve got the guys to do it,” Burns said. “We’re prepared every game from our coaches, we’ve just got to find that balance of feeling good and doing the right things that we’ve got built around in our system and then just do it. We’ve got the team, and we’ve been successful here for a long time, and there’s no reason to not feel that.”
There appear to be no easy answers for the Sharks right now, particularly at even strength.
Different line combinations haven’t worked, neither Jones nor backup goalie Aaron Dell and get on a roll and various players the Sharks are relying on to provide offense have yet to hit their stride.
The biggest thing, according to the Sharks, is a lack of confidence.
“We kind of, I feel like we scared now. We just trying too much and we doing actually nothing,” Hertl said. “Everybody is scared to make a play, like we’re first time (in the NHL). We’ve got a lot of veteran players and we have to be smarter.”
The Sharks began this road trip feeling better about their game and where they were as a team. They lost 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres at home on Oct. 19 but had won three straight just before then, giving off the feeling that they were heading in the right direction.
A 4-3 overtime loss to the Sabres in Buffalo last Tuesday was bittersweet, as they played well enough to win before a poor line change in the extra session resulted in a Jack Eichel goal.
Two nights later, Kane scored two power-play goals and helped the Sharks earn a 4-2 win. But playing their third game in four nights Friday in Toronto, the Sharks had to kill five penalties and had nothing left in the third period in a 4-1 loss to the Leafs.
The Sharks’ season hit rock bottom Sunday, though, in the loss to Senators.
That carried over into Tuesday.
“We haven’t put it together,” DeBoer said. “Early in the season we were reckless with the puck and turnovers were killing us. Lately, we’ve been soft in d-zone coverage like we were in Ottawa or around the net. Tonight it was penalties and we just couldn’t kill them off.
“It seems like it is something different every night but, no one’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to figure this out and do some soul searching and get back home.”