It’s a gloomy Sunday morning in San Jose and for Sharks fans across the world. Less than 10 hours ago, the Oilers beat the Sharks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals by a final score of 3 to 1, advancing to the next round. There are many reasons why the Sharks couldn’t make it past the young and talented Oilers squad, but let’s focus specially on Game 6 and find out why they couldn’t force a Game 7.

1 . Too Many Defensive Breakdowns

This is easily the biggest reason for the Game 6 loss. It didn’t help that both goals were  minutes apart. On Edmonton’s first goal, a blocked shot from Justin Braun bounced to Adam Larsson, who sent it across to Leon Draisaitl for the breakaway goal. Joe Thornton got caught in the offensive zone while Justin Braun is forced to defend Draisaitl all by himself. On the second Edmonton goal, Paul Martin fails to catch a simple pass at the point from Tierney. Slepyshev would go on to score on the breakaway and give Edmonton a 2-0 lead. Martin has to do a better job of keeping this puck in the zone.

ICYMI, Slepy put us up by two. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/nSWrV0P9XY

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 23, 2017

2. They Couldn’t Solve Cam Talbot

Other than a bad Game 4 where he let up 5 goals, Cam Talbot was great all series long. Tonight was no different. The Sharks kept up with the Oilers in the shot department and made Talbot work to get the win. He made 27 out of 28 saves, and the posts bailed him out a few times, too. He most impressed on the Sharks’ power play chances. They had a significant amount of zone time on these opportnities and Talbot came up big when it mattered.

3.  Not a Quick Enough Start

In 5 of the 6 games this series, including tonight, the Oilers scored the first goal of the game. It took until Game 4 where the Sharks finally had a regulation lead in the series. There’s no denying the fact that the outcome could be completely different if San Jose wasn’t trailing so much. Even tonight, The Sharks couldn’t get hardly any momentum in the early first period, a time they had hoped to do so in front of an electric home crowd. Before any sort of energy was really going, it was late in the third period. Other than the Game 1 comeback and Game 4 blowout, this series was a perfect example of how important it is to be playing with a lead.

There a many more reasons why the Sharks couldn’t force a Game 7. It’s a disappointing end to a season that had a lot of promise. What else caused the Sharks to lose Game 6, and the series in general? Let us know in the comments below.