Sharks try to focus amid trade deadline speculation

SAN JOSE >> Anthony Duclair continued to add to his trade value and Mike Hoffman snapped a 28game goal drought. Kaapo Kahkonen, though, struggled for the second straight outing.

In other words, Thursday's 6- 4 loss by the Sharks to the Anaheim Ducks was a mixed bag for some of the team's pending unrestricted free agents, who figure to be under a certain degree of stress between now and the NHL trade deadline on March 8 “We're all humans. We all know what time of year it is,” said Duclair, who has 13 goals on the season and is likely one of the Sharks' most attractive trade chips. “But at the same time, I think the guys have done a good job staying focused and staying dialed in every game and practice.

“We know that it's a stressful time of the year but guys are professionals here, and we have each other's backs no matter what.”

The Sharks, on a fivegame skid after losing all five games on their homestand, face the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars today, then turn around and play the resurgent Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

The two-game trip starts a month in which the Sharks play 15 times in 30 days, with now four games left before the trade deadline. San Jose, with one of the worst records in the NHL at 15-38-5, will be one of the league's sellers.

Quinn met with the Sharks on Wednesday to talk about the trade deadline and the distraction it often involves.

“We were pretty honest regarding our situation and the time of year, and you can't hide from reality.

We're all humans,” Quinn said. “We talked about it as a team, and we can't let this time of year, and the circumstances, creep into our mindset and our performance. That's not an option.”

“Try and control you can control,” Hoffman said. “All that outside stuff, you can't do anything about it. All you can do is take care of what you do in here.”

Kahkonen, a potential target before the deadline, was shaky from the start Thursday, as he allowed two goals on the first three shots he faced. That includded a shorthanded goal by Brett Leason, who found some space on a rush up and beat Kahkonen through the legs for his eighth goal of the season at the 4:37 mark of the first period.

Kahkonen gave up five goals on 17 shots in the first two periods, and finished Thursday with 24 saves on 29 shots. On Tuesday, coming in relief of an injured Mackenzie Blackwood, Kahkonen allowed seven goals on 31 shots to the New Jersey Devils in two- plus periods as the Sharks went on to lose 7-2.

“I'm sure he'd like to have a couple of them back,” Quinn said on Kahkonen's performance on Thursday. “I didn't think it was his sharpest game.”

While Kahkonen's trade value might have taken a hit, Duclair now has four goals and an assist in his last five games.

San Jose is in 31st place in the NHL's overall standings with 35 points and a .302 points percentage.

“It was one of those games where everybody had to step up, especially in front of our home fans,” Duclair said. “It didn't go our way, but I liked the way we competed and battled back and stayed in it right there until the end.” *