Boughner: ‘We need more from the big guys’
Players on San Jose’s top 3 forward lines have been scoreless of late
Five games into the NHL season and Sharks coach Bob Boughner is still looking for more consistency.
Five games into the NHL season and San Jose Sharks coach Bob Boughner is still looking for a little more consistency from some of his top offensive stars.
Going into Sunday’s game with the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center, players on the Sharks’ top three forward lines have been scoreless for six consecutive periods and one overtime.
The Sharks’ power play, which was off to such a white-hot start after three games, has now misfired on 10 straight opportunities.
The Sharks have discovered an effective fourth line as Matt Nieto and Marcus Sorensen have scored in consecutive games, with Patrick Marleau adding an assist on Nieto’s goal in Friday’s 4-1 loss.
But if the Sharks (2-3-0) hope to finish their season-opening eightgame road trip on a positive note, their big weapons are going to have to provide a bit more punch. After Sunday, the Sharks head to Colorado for games against the equally-tough Avalanche on Tuesday and Thursday.
“I think the difference is our power play at crucial times needs to get us one there,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Friday. “Minnesota’s a pretty good penalty kill team, but we didn’t generate a lot of emotion from our power play. Especially when we had chances, we didn’t capitalize on our chances.
“We need more from the big guys. We got another goal from Matt Nieto on that fourth line, and we need our best players be our best players.”
At the start of the season, the Sharks were concerned mainly about their puck management and their defense as they allowed 10 5-on-5 goals through the first three games.
Now the pendulum has swung in the other direction: they’re playing tighter defense but aren’t creating enough high danger opportunities.
Maybe teams are starting to play with more structure after some more wide-open hockey in the first few days of the season. That certainly would explain why it was such a struggle Friday for the Sharks to get a lot of quality looks.
According to naturalstattrick. com, the Sharks managed just
four high danger chances Friday, matching their total from Wednesday’s 2-1 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues.
Minnesota was credited with 24 blocked shots Friday to the Sharks’ 12.
“We have to have the ability to play low, try and play below the tops of the circles, obviously still using that low-to-high play,” Boughner said. “I thought we played well enough to win. But we need more offense, obviously, than just one goal. I thought our power play at crucial times in the game could have made a difference.”
The Sharks in their first three games connected on five of their first 11 power play chances. But after going 0-for-7 on Wednesday, they went 0-for-3 on Friday. The Sharks got seven shots on net, but the Wild also did a good job of getting into shooting lanes.
“We just have to keep it simple, get some more pucks through,” Sharks winger Timo Meier, who has been held without a point in four of five games so far. “Net presence is important. A lot of times we’re moving the puck well, but we’re not really dangerous in front of the net. We just have to fight to get an ugly one you know, and that will give us confidence.”
Other takeaways: SOLID START >> The Sharks got their second straight quality start from one of their goaltenders Friday as Devan Dubnyk returned to St. Paul to make 25 saves. Martin Jones stopped 22 of 23 shots Wednesday.
While we fully expect to see Jones back in net for the Sharks on Sunday, Dubnyk’s performance could mean that he’ll get chances to start on a regular basis for some time to come. The Sharks play 13 games over the next 28 days.
Dubnyk was making his second start this season after he was in net for the Sharks’ 5-4 loss Monday in St. Louis.
GAMBRELL’S GAME >> Dylan Gambrell played 15 minutes Friday and spent most of the third period on a line with Meier and Evander Kane. From a possession standpoint, that was the Sharks’ best trio.
It would be quite something to see Gambrell continue to improve and become the Sharks’ second line center. Perhaps if he does that, it might allow Tomas Hertl to move to the top line with Logan Couture, which might go a long way tio help cure the offense. Just a thought.