While the San Jose Sharks had, statistically, a more competitive game than some of its other games to start the season, the result on the scoreboard did not show it. Game one of the road trip ended with the Sharks falling to the Nashville Predators by a score of 5-1.
Looking at the game flow in all situations (courtesy of Natural Stat Trick), it would seem like the Sharks stayed with the Predators or even controlled the pace of the play for the first two periods.
However, by the time the horn sounded to end the second period, San Jose was in a hole, down 3-0. It was just another brick upon the backs of a group of players that have a tough time battling their way out of a difficult situation. The Sharks allowed another goal before finally getting on the scoreboard and then immediately followed that up with allowing Nashville to regain that four-goal lead.
The frustration was palpable in Tomas Hertl’s postgame interview.
“In the second, we stopped playing for one minute and it kind of changed the game,” said Hertl. “But even after that, I think the 20 minutes in the second period, we get pretty good looks, we should score some goals. You know, power play finally looks better, but, still, it’s not enough.”
From a coach’s standpoint, Head Coach David Quinn wasn’t happy about the extremes on each side of the play.
“I thought there was some really good things going on for a while and then when we were bad, we were bad,” said Quinn. “It’s disappointing because I thought there were a lot of good things in the first period, and all of a sudden, we give up a goal on the power play, lose a stick, don’t block a shot. Then again, we give up two right away, which dug ourselves a hole again. Then we responded, I thought, in a positive way for a while, had some zone time and some chances and then…just very, very inconsistent. Very inconsistent.”
That hit on Blackwood
While the game was pretty much over partway through the third period, it was an incident in the final ten minutes of the game that had Hertl upset not so much at the Predators but at the people next to him on the bench.
Here's the Forsberg body slam of Blackwood that got Hertl & Quinn so riled up at #SJSharks for not standing up for their goalie.
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 22, 2023
Full quotes & video here –> https://t.co/cDliQGR2R3 pic.twitter.com/FCVY7sV5Xh
Roman Josi came careening into the play to try and score the goal. While he tried to avoid contact, he seemed to hit Blackwood in the head, causing the Sharks goaltender to fall backward spread eagle. Seeing the puck in the crease, Filip Forsberg leapt into the air, and landed directly on top of the sprawled out Blackwood. He puts the puck into the net as he does so. While the goal did not count, Hertl was understandably upset that no one stuck up for Blackwood.
“I just don’t like last 10 minutes because we just let Blackie alone. He’s on the back. We have to just be there more together. Step it up. If it’s five-one, you have to crosscheck somebody and show them they can’t do anything,” said Hertl. “I’m more mad about the game, just about the last couple of minutes because we just let our goalie alone and we don’t show anything. We have to show they can’t do it to us and at least play hard around the net.”
Quinn said the issue will be addressed.
“It was Forsberg who fell on top of him and that’ll be addressed,” said Quinn. “You got to protect your goalie. And I don’t care if you’re friends or not; you got to protect your goalie.”
What’s going on with the defense
For the first time this season, the Sharks played with 7 defensemen and 11 forwards. Turns out the team needed those options because Marc-Edouard Vlasic played just nine shifts in the game for 6:09 of ice time. After the midway point of the second period, he did not see another shift. After the game, Quinn was blunt about Vlasic’s game.
“He’s gotta be better. He’s gotta be harder. He’s gotta be more thorough. Just got to be better,” said Quinn.
Meanwhile, Ty Emberson, playing in his first career NHL game, had 13:10 of ice time, all at even strength. After the game, Quinn was complimentary.
Mario Ferraro and Kyle Burroughs were on the ice the most out of the players on the Sharks’ blueline. Ferraro had 22:33 of ice time and was among the Sharks’ players carrying the workload on the penalty kill. Burroughs had 20:43 of ice time and was used in all situations. He played the point on a power play that looked much better than it had in the previous few games.
What the defense did not do well was keeping the Predators to the outside.
Looking at the heat map, you can see that Blackwood dealt with a lot of shots in close. In total, the goaltender faced 34 shots. Nine of those shots were high-danger scoring chances and three of those went in.
Given how Blackwood has played for the team in his first two games, the Sharks, specifically the defense, needs to be better about helping him out around the net. As Hertl said, they need to “play hard” and crosscheck someone if necessary.
Hertl appreciation section
Let’s take a minute to appreciate Tomas Hertl and what he brought to the Sharks in last night’s game. There’s the obvious goal, the only one of the night for team teal.
Ninja Hertl gets his first goal of the season :-))@TomasHertl48 | #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/amt0QvYSrx
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 22, 2023
Hertl is the third forward in but instead of going behind the boards, he waits for the play to develop. As the Nashville player attempts to pass it from behind the net to his waiting teammate, Hertl intercepts the pass and dishes it to the point. In Nashville’s scramble to recover, Hertl finds an open spot on the ice and gets that rebound off the backboards for an easy goal. His first of the season.
Consider the goal a reward for how Hertl played last night. If you look at his event map, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, you’ll see that he did a little bit of everything last night.
You’ll see that Hertl had five shots last night, one of which went in. He had a few more that were blocked before they got to the net. Hertl had a takeaway and took a hit to make a play. His Corsi for at even strength was 65%, meaning he created scoring opportunities for the Sharks.
Hertl’s comments after the game were just as good. A team leader publically demanding more from his teammates isn’t a bad thing, especially considering that he’s usually a very positive person.
The Sharks now head to Florida. The team will play the Panthers on Tuesday and the Lightning on Thursday.
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