Whether you were a long-time Sharks fan or a child at your first Sharks game ever, this was probably the worst game you’ve seen in recent memory. The San Jose Sharks returned home after a difficult east coast road trip to host the red-hot Vancouver Canucks, and came away with a 10-1 thumping that essentially went from bad to worse for the entire night.
It was quite the contrast to watch the NBC Sports California broadcast pan to Jonathan Cheechoo watching in the stands as a fan, or later to Evgeni Nabokov watching from the Sharks administrative suite, and compare the days of their playing careers to the lopsided affair below them. There is one nice thing to take home, however. Even though the results on ice might be different from those amazing times in the 00s and 10s, the fans and their passion for the team remain the same.
When Fabian Zetterlund broke Thatcher Demko’s shutout bid late in the third period, Sharks fans who devotedly stayed at SAP Center to watch the entire game were rewarded – and they took advantage of their time to celebrate. Give both the Sharks and their fans credit there. They remained determined to finish strong and showed some pride. It was heartwarming to see people find a way to celebrate, albeit a tad ironically, a single goal to cut the deficit down to nine.
Of note: David Quinn, coaching in his 300th NHL game, had a few lineup changes entering the night, inserting Nikita Okhotiuk and Jacob MacDonald for their season debuts. The pair replaced Matt Benning and Mike Hoffman, respectively. Filip Zadina laced up the skates for his 200th NHL game tonight, while Anthony Duclair played in his 500th.
Penalty woes and whimsy
One way to assess this blowout is through San Jose’s penalty troubles and even more dire penalty kill. Just over one minute in, Sharks center Nico Sturm took an unfortunate double minor penalty for high sticking. As the Canucks were getting set for the team’s four-minute power play, Drew Remenda mentioned that a good penalty kill from the start was not a bad way to get the team going at the onset of the game. Generally, this would be true. Vancouver, with its lethal and confident power play, made San Jose pay. Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller both buried the puck behind Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen in rapid fashion and jolted the Canucks to an early 2-0 lead.
Given the Sharks struggles to score more than one goal per game, the team’s odds of winning were essentially gone just four minutes in. Without Logan Couture, and with the recent departures of players like Brent Burns, Matt Nieto, and Nick Bonino, the Sharks have struggled mightily to successfully kill penalties thus far in 2023-24. The Canucks went 4-for-5 on the power play in this game, scoring three of those in the first period.
The Sharks are taking too many penalties. This happens when the team has to chase the play and chase the lead consistently. At the other end, the penalty kill has been habitually allowing too many cross-zone passes and has not been clearing out the front of the net. These are not recipes for success. All teams must tip-toe the line of how hard to play. Teams with great penalty kills can afford to play closer to the edge, confident that they can survive any team’s power play most of the time. The Sharks are playing with edge, but are not getting the kills they need. In sum: whimsical play – a careless stick infraction here, an unforced turnover there – combined with the woeful performance on those kills have sunk San Jose deep.
Are they playing for each other?
Aside from the penalty kill, there was one moment in the game that drew our concern:
It was deeply unnerving to see Kahkonen down in pain and have none of his teammates at his side. Instead, immediately after giving up a 2-on-1 goal, all five Sharks left for the bench in frustration while their own goaltender was on his knees after a hard collision with Andrei Kuzmenko.
Showing good sportsmanship, the Canucks on the ice stayed on to check on Kahkonen, who was left alone by his own teammates. The situation sparked the memory of the Sharks complete lack of a response to Mackenzie Blackwood getting jumped in the game against Nashville on Oct. 21. Somebody has to check in on Kahkonen there, just as someone had to stand up for Blackwood in the prior game. It doesn’t have to be a fight, but there has to be some sort of gesture of human acknowledgment. Show that you play for each other; show some respect for your goaltender.
The response in game was not there, what about the postgame response?
The Sharks were still just down by 2 and had 56 minutes left to play. How did they respond? They didn’t collapse just yet and even responded with a couple of chances from Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Kyle Burroughs. They couldn’t establish any sustained pressure, though.
Vancouver was pressuring the Sharks on and off the puck at a dizzying pace. It was impressive to watch their speed and 5-on-5 dynamism. You could see the Sharks battling, but they couldn’t connect more than two passes at a time most of the time. After giving up the third goal, then the fourth, and considering the brutal results they’ve had to start the season, it would have been hard for any person to remain optimistic and earnest in that moment.
We don’t know what exactly was said when the Sharks went into the locker room for the first intermission. Leading up to that disastrous sixth goal and Kahkonen injury, though, it’s hard to say the Sharks pushed back enough.
The bigger question now is, how will the Sharks respond to this game? What attitude will they carry into the rink at practice the next day? They are professional athletes, and there is no doubt that they will show up to Sharks Ice on Friday eager to get back to work, eager to prove themselves once again. They have another challenging test against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Erik Karlsson will return to SAP Center, hopefully to a cheering crowd ready to watch some good, competitive hockey.
Highlight
The one nice thing about the Sharks scoring once per game is that it’s easy to pick out the highlight of the night. Here’s the shutout-breaking goal from Fabian Zetterlund:
Next up, the Sharks host Karlsson and the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night at 7:00 PST.
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