Sharks' margin for error small sans top centers
The Sharks are going to have to tighten things up on defense and get some added production from their forward group if they want to remain competitive without injured centermen Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture.
Because even in the best of times for the Sharks this season, the margin for error has been small.
Top-line forwards Anthony Duclair and Fabian Zetterlund gave the Sharks a chance Saturday as both collected two points in regulation time against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
But some poor puck management and a late defensive breakdown proved to be the difference, as Boone Jenner scored with 12.9 seconds left to give the Blue Jackets a 4-3 win at SAP Center.
The Sharks had the puck in Columbus' zone with 20 seconds to go but lost possession. The puck then came to Johnny Gaudreau, who found Jenner as he broke up the ice, splitting Jan Rutta and Alexander Barabanov.
Jenner then fought off a check by Rutta and put a one-handed backhand shot on net that got past Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.
“We talked about situational hockey this morning and just another opportunity for us to play smart, and we didn't,” Sharks coach David Quinn said after Saturday's game. “We lose F3 in the O-zone and we get beat up ice. Kind of was the story of the night when we were struggling.
“The breakaways, the almost-breakaways. We're watching the puck way too much and not really paying attention to the nine bodies on the ice, so we've got to do a better job in that area.”
That kind of breakdown probably does not happen if both Couture and Hertl are available. As it is, San Jose is now 1-2-0 since the end of their bye week last weekend. The two losses have been by one goal, sandwiched around a 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
The Sharks were 104-5 in one-goal games this season before the All-star break.
“With 12 seconds left, we all thought it was going to go to overtime, and anything can happen there,” Duclair said. “It's one of those you've go to learn from and make sure it doesn't happen again.”
San Jose's five-game homestand continues today against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.
“It sucks, but we just have to move forward,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “Good individual effort on that last goal. We had our chances, they had theirs. It's unfortunate the way that it happened. Just got to move on to the next one.”
Duclair had two goals and Zetterlund added a goal and an assist as the Sharks, debuting their latest black uniforms, erased a 3-1 deficit in the second period.
Just 19 seconds after Dmitri Voronkov gave Columbus a two-goal lead at the 7:14 mark of the second, Duclair took a pass from Zetterlund, got in close, and beat Elvis Merzlikins with a backhand to forehand move to score his 11th of the season.
Then on a Sharks power play, Zetterlund took a pass from Calen Addison and one-timed a shot near the faceoff dot past Merzlikins for his 15th goal of the season, tying him with Hertl for the team lead.
The Sharks played a largely unstructured game for the first 20 minutes. Gaudreau was gifted three breakaways in five minutes — failing to convert one opportunity after deking out Kahkonen, hitting the post on his next try, and firing a shot high on a third chance.
The Blue Jackets tied the game 1-1 after Werenski was left alone near the slot and fired a puck past a partially screened Kahkonen at the 15:16 mark, then took the lead after Marchenko found the short side on the Sharks' goalie just 1:08 later.
“I just didn't think we were mentally sharp,” Quinn said. “I don't think we had a lot of attention to details and we didn't play with a conscience. It was kind of free-wheeling hockey.”