Fast starts. Jump on them early. You hear coaches and players talk about this in any sport, and Peter DeBoer has been harping on this in recent weeks as the San Jose Sharks have struggled to establish their game from the get-go.
Well, apparently the message isn’t getting through to the players as San Jose allowed two quick goals, the first coming just 36 seconds into the game, as the New York Islanders emerged with a 4-2 victory over the Sharks at SAP Center, taking both games from San Jose in the season series.
For the sixth time in seven games, the Sharks have allowed the first goal, and like so many of them, this one could have been avoided as a bad change allowed John Tavares to be left alone in front to deposit a rebound past the sprawling Martin Jones.
Speaking of Jones, it was a quick night for him between the pipes as less than three minutes later, the deficit was two as Mikhail Grabovski snapped one home from just inside the blue line on a shot that must be stopped. Following the goal, Jones was pulled for the second time on this home stand in favor of Alex Stalock as Jones has not been sharp of late.
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With the exception of the early going, San Jose threw all they good muster at former Sharks netminder Thomas Greiss, who made 34 saves in recording the victory. The Sharks cut the deficit to one as Joel Ward snuck one five-hole on Greiss midway through the second period as San Jose’s second-line continues to be the Sharks best on a nightly basis.
However, San Jose was down by two right away to begin the third as Johnny Boychuck scored the eventual game-winner on a slap shot from just outside the blue line that skipped off the ice and beat Stalock far side in an absolutely deflating goal. It’s too bad for Stalock who played a solid game in relief, but as DeBoer noted after the game, you can’t win allowing two soft goals like that.
Brent Burns would bring the Sharks back within one with more than five minutes remaining after a nice setup from behind the net from Tomas Hertl, but San Jose’s desperate attempts in the final minutes came up empty as the Sharks concluded their home stand with a 1-3-0 record and fell below the .500 mark for the first time all season (7-8-0).
It was another tough luck defeat for this San Jose team that needs to find a way to play with some sort of lead. Recently, the Sharks have been in practically every game, but they’ve been on the wrong end of the score line, largely due to the fact that they’re trying to overcome some sort of deficit.
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San Jose now hits the road for their longest road trip of the season, a six-game trek through the East Coast that will prove what this team is made of. This trip will be a defining moment for this Sharks team as drastic changes could be made if the struggles persist moving forward.