San Jose looking for a few more goals
Sharks playing well, but some forwards struggling to hit target
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was asked Wednesday if they’ll be any extra emotion from his players when they face the Sharks for the first time since the end of the Western Conference finals in May.
“Right now, we’ll take any motivation we can get to play those guys,” he said. “They’re an awful good team in every aspect. Well-coached. We’ve got our work cut out. I think our players know that, too.”
The Sharks feel pretty good about their play right now as well, particularly on defense as they’ve allowed just four goals in four games. But finding the back of the net has been a season-long issue for some of the Sharks’ top nine forwards.
Despite having what’s thought to be a deeper group up front than last season, the Sharks are averaging just 2.31 goals per game going into Thursday’s contest with the Blues. They averaged 2.89 goals last regular season, fourth best in the NHL.
It’s still fairly early, but the offensive dip does put more pressure on the goalies.
“We have to find a way to generate some offense here,” Sharks center Logan Couture said after Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. “We’re not scoring.”
The Sharks didn’t lose any of their core players from last season and became a deeper team this summer with the additions of winger Mikkel Boedker and defenseman David Schlemko. If a player gets injured, the Sharks would be in a much better position to absorb the loss.
“I think they’re the deepest group of forwards in the west,” Hitchcock said. “They’ve got four lines, their fourth line plays as a third line. That’s the challenge. There’s no place to take a breath so you really have to dig in.”
Still, as Sharks coach Pete DeBoer has said, most NHL games these days are a race to three goals. Whichever team gets there first usually wins.
That couldn’t be more true for the Sharks, who are 7-1 when they score at least three times and 0-6 when they allow the opposition to score three or more.
Joel Ward and Boedker have combined for three goals in 16 games, Couture doesn’t have a 5-on-5 goal this season, Patrick Marleau has two goals in 10 games.
The back of each player’s hockey cards would indicate they’re capable of a little more.
“I’m not scoring, and obviously it’s frustrating when you’re not scoring and you’re counted on to be an offensive player on the team,” said Couture, who has 157 goals in 447 career games.
“I need to produce offensively, I know that, I realize that. But this isn’t an individual sport. There are a lot of guys that need to get going here, myself included. Hopefully, we can figure it out soon.”
The Sharks have stressed team defense since their 5-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 5. DeBoer felt prior to the road trip that his team was cheating on defense to help create a few more scoring chances.
Tuesday’s game figured to be one the Sharks could win, particularly after Aaron Dell stopped 32 of 33 shots. There’s a balance there somewhere, and the Sharks hope to find it on a more consistent basis.
“This league doesn’t let you feel sorry for yourself,” DeBoer said. “We’re just coming off three of our best games of the year. It was an egg. We’ve got to forget about it and get ready for a tough St. Louis game.”
“They lost 1-0 on the road, you know they’re going to be ready,” Hitchcock said. “It’s going to be on us to make it a heck of a hockey game. They beat us out, they were better than us at the end of the year. It’s up to us to start taking back some ground.”