Frustrated Boughner: ‘It’s time to man up’
DENVER >> Sure, the Sharks’ game against the Vancouver Canucks today is important in terms of the Western Conference standings. But with the Sharks now nine points out of a playoff spot with 31 games left to play, getting back into postseason contention at this stage doesn’t seem realistic.
It is vital, though, for the Sharks to play well in their last game before the bye week and reestablish some of the identity they had started to form under interim coach Bob Boughner in recent weeks.
If they can’t, then who knows how bad things will get over the final two-plus months.
“I think it’s crucial for us,” Boughner said Thursday after the Sharks’ 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. “Obviously, Vancouver, a team that’s ahead of us, but just to get into this break and end it off on the right note.
“We felt really good about ourselves and about our team and the way we were playing before this trip. Things haven’t gone our way for the first two games. It’s time to man up. We have too many guys that
are not on the same page right now in the last two games, and we’re not a good enough team to do that.
“We’ve proved that we can play with the best teams if we play the right way, and we got all 20 guys going and sticking to the plan. But when we don’t, we’re very average at best.”
The Sharks (21-24-4) beat the Columbus Blue Jackets and Dallas Stars by 3-1 and 2-1 scores, respectively, at home last week. But the attention to detail and the commitment to defend has disappeared on this road trip, which started with a 6-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.
The Canucks moved into third place in the Pacific Division with a 3-1 win over the Coyotes on Thursday and are now 15-5-3 at home this season.
“We’ve got one more game left on this road trip against a divisional opponent who’s ahead of us in the standings,” Sharks winger Evander Kane said. “It’s an opportunity to get back some of the ground we’ve lost in these last two games. We’ve got to take that opportunity and run with it. We’ve got to be a lot better than we were (Thursday).”
Takeaways from Thursday:
1. MARTIN JONES’ GAME >> Boughner wanted to give Jones a chance to play Thursday since it had already been 11 days since his last start — a 5-4 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Jan. 5 in which the Sharks blew a two-goal lead with under a minute left to play.
Thursday’s game wasn’t much easier, as Jones allowed a goal on the first shot he faced and two more on shots from inside the blue line. Cale Makar’s goal was especially tough to give up, as it came with three seconds left in the first period and put the Sharks in a 2-0 hole.
“That was too bad. Unlucky bounce there,” said Jones, adding that Makar’s shot had glanced off a body in front. “It puts you in a tough spot down 2-0, but we weren’t out of the game by any means. We could have come out and had a strong second. We just didn’t.”
Jones finished with 34 saves, including 27 in the first two periods.
“Tough when we don’t have a lot of support there, and we don’t score a goal,” Boughner said. “We’re down two, and we’re not generating a lot.”
In terms of the length of time in between starts, Jones really hasn’t had a season like this since 201415 when he was backing up Jonathan Quick in Los Angeles. His start Thursday was just his fifth in the past 15 games.
Whatever happens from now until early April, the Sharks have to come up with a long-term plan for Jones, who is under contract for four more seasons past this one. The prospect of a buyout is an unsavory one at best.
“I want to play, but I’m just trying to take advantage of this time that I have in practice now,” Jones said. “Try and make sure I’m improving my game here.”
2. AN IDENTITY DISAPPEARS >> The Sharks may have allowed more odd-man rushes Thursday than they have in the past two weeks combined. The Avalanche feasted on the Sharks’ disastrous puck management, forcing Jones to make a handful of quality stops just to keep the game from getting totally out of hand.
The only way the Sharks were going to stay with the speedy Avalanche was if they could force their players to come 200 feet and work for chances. Instead, the Sharks’ fed into that rush almost all game.
“We had some things in mind we talked about this morning that we wanted to implement in our game plan, and it went opposite on us,” Boughner said. “A lot of chances in the first period were from outnumbered rushes. Not a lot came off the d-zone. It was from outnumbered rushes, and that means we’re not doing the job up the ice.”
3. A SPEED GAP >> The Sharks fell victim to some tentativeness on the offensive end, not wanting to make mistakes against a dangerous Avs team, but still doing so because they didn’t have enough jump in the early going.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” Sharks defensemen Brent Burns said. “Getting behind and trying not to make mistakes, not helping the next guy. It’s tough to play when you’re maybe nervous about making a mistake, thinking about it. The support, the battle. It’s an unacceptable game.”