Bedard watch is real, but so is need to compete
SJ fought back after facing some adversity against Edmonton
Let’s forget about NHL Draft Lottery percentages right now. Let’s forget, just for a few seconds, about Connor Bedard, as blasphemous as that might seem.
Before the San Jose Sharks get to the offseason, they still want to at least try and leave a foundation for what they hope will be some brighter days ahead.
That’s why the Sharks’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday can still be viewed in a somewhat positive light.
Yes, the loss was the Sharks’ 12th in 13 games, as they allowed the game-tying goal to Mattias Ekholm with 3:47 left in regulation time and the game-winning goal to Darnell Nurse with less than 15 seconds left in overtime.
And for the Bedard-watch crowd, yes, the overtime point moved the Sharks (19-37-15) four points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for last place in the NHL.
But from the Sharks’ own perspective, they needed a game like Monday’s where they showed some more resilience and a bit more pushback. All too often recently, once the Sharks started to face adversity, they would lose confidence, maybe allow another spotty goal, then slowly fade away.
Saturday at home against the New York Islanders, the Sharks took a 1-0 lead in the first period, then gave up four unanswered, including two in the second period.
“We’ve gotten off to good starts and right now and when adversity hits, we have a hard time getting over it,” Sharks coach David Quinn said Saturday after the 4-1 loss to the Islanders. “It’s not just because of what’s going on within the framework of the game, but I think it’s what’s gone on over the course of the season.
“When you’re a winning team that’s had success throughout the season and something bad happens, you’ve got an awful lot of confidence and swagger. When you’ve had the season we have had and something goes bad in the game, right now, we have to work a little extra hard to get over it.”
Quinn would go on to say that the Sharks need to continue to work on their mental toughness and, “not let a goal or a bad
stretch get in the way of the rest of the game.”
Perhaps some progress was made Monday.
Against the Oilers, the Sharks faced some of that adversity. They started fast on an Alexander Barabanov goal 5:48 into the first period, only to fall behind by one by the 30-second mark of the second on a Kailer Yamamoto goal.
But the Sharks responded. Steven Lorentz scored on a second-effort goal, set up by a pretty pass from Andrew Agozzino at the 8:32 mark of the second period. Erik Karlsson added another goal, his 21st of the season just 1:51 later. Two more goals, one for each team, would leave the Sharks with a 4-3 lead after two periods.
From there, the Oilers’ experience and firepower proved to be a bit too much, although goalie James Reimer still made a seasonhigh 46 saves.
“I didn’t think that anything derailed us as much as it has previously,” Karlsson said. “I think we stuck with it. We know they’re a good team, and they’re going to control a lot of the game and have the puck a lot and they did just that. But I think that we stayed composed and we found a way to capitalize on the few chances that we got and we just got to keep doing that.”
There are no moral victories but this Sharks team has to cling onto anything it can get its hands on right now as they try to put together some good habits over the next 11 games.
For those on Bedard watch, take a deep breath: the Sharks will still be underdogs in every one of them.
“I loved our compete. I loved our effort and really at this stage, if we’re going to lose hockey games, it’s going to be because they just have more talent than we do,” Quinn said. “That was the case tonight.”