Road struggles continue in lopsided loss to Florida
SUNRISE, FLA. >> The Sharks feel their game is in a much better place now than it was the last time they were on an extended road trip in late October.
The end results, though, are looking remarkably similar.
Less than 24 hours after they were smoked by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Sharks trailed by two goals less than nine minutes into the first period Sunday and never fully recovered in a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center.
The Sharks went 1-3-1 on a five-game trip from Oct. 22-29, finishing the trip with blowout losses to Toronto, Ottawa and Boston.
The Sharks are now 0-2-1 on this trip that ends Tuesday in Nashville, and have been outscored 14-5 so far through regulation and overtime.
On road trips of more than one game this season, the Sharks are now 2-7-2.
Add it all up and the Sharks, on a four-game slide, are a pedestrian 1515-2.
“I think we’re a little too relaxed right now,” Sharks winger Evander Kane said. “A couple games where we got off to bad starts and weren’t able to fight back, and we really didn’t have much fight-back after we got down. That’s really the most disappointing part.”
Takeaways from Sunday:
1. ANOTHER EARLY DEFICIT >> Sharks coach Pete DeBoer decided to start Martin Jones on Sunday, giving him a chance to bounce back after allowing four goals on 21 shots Saturday in what ended up as a 7-1 loss to the Lightning.
Jones was pulled after the Lightning scored early in the third period to take a 4-1 lead.
“I took him out (Saturday) because this game’s less than 24 hours later,” DeBoer said of Jones, “and I wanted to save his legs a little bit and hope he’d come out with some energy.”
Instead, the Panthers scored a power-play goal on their second shot of the game. Defenseman Keith Yandle fired a shot toward the net from inside the blue line that seemed to freeze Jones, and the puck got past his left arm 4:31 into the first period.
Then with the Panthers leading 2-1, a shot from Florida defenseman Mike Matheson, also from well outside, found Jones’ fivehole.
These weren’t high-danger chances.
From Nov. 25-30, Jones was 3-0-0 with a 1.98 GAA and .935 save percentage in two games against Los Angeles and one against Arizona. He was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.
Since then he is 0-3-0 with a .829 save percentage and a 5.57 GAA.
“It was 10 days ago that Jonesy was player of the week,” DeBoer said. “We know what he’s capable of doing. Like our group, I think he can be better than he has been the last couple games.”
Jones finished with 28 saves on 32 shots against the Panthers, but once again, the Sharks had to play from behind.
With Aaron Dell in net, the Sharks were down by a goal 50 seconds into their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Saturday, the Sharks gave up the first goal 3:10 into the first period.
“I feel sorry for (Jones) because I think he’s playing really well,” defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “There were just a couple breakdowns in the defensive zone. We just have to tighten up our game. It’s not easy on the road.”
2. KANE RESPONDS TO HIT >> The Sharks had to play a large part of the second period without Kane.
Just as he took a pass at the Panthers’ blue line, Kane was leveled by a borderline open-ice hit from defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. No penalty was called, but the hit caught Kane’s shoulder and he said his head, as he went down on the ice.
Later in the period, Kane went at Weegar, and the two dropped their gloves for a brief fight at the 4:16 mark of the second period.
“I haven’t seen the hit,” DeBoer said. “I think Evander felt that he took a liberty with it and tried to hurt him, and that how guys like Evander settle those scores.”
While they both received fighting majors, Kane received two-minute and 10-minute instigator penalties.
“It’s just about sticking up for yourself,” Kane said. “We need a little more of that. Guy hits me in the head and no call. You’ve got to protect yourself.”
The Sharks killed the two-minute penalty, but with the puck still in their zone, Matheson took a pass from Aaron Ekblad and fired a shot that got through Jones’ pads.
3. POWER PLAY GETS ONE >> Kevin Labanc’s powerplay goal at the 10:13 mark of the first period ended San Jose’s 10-game, 0-for23 slump with the man advantage and cut the Panthers’ lead to 2-1.
• Sharks defenseman Radim Simek will undergo a procedure to treat a meniscus issue in his surgically repaired right knee this week and is expected to be out of the lineup for two weeks, general manager Doug Wilson said Sunday afternoon. Simek had reconstructive knee surgery in March.