So, here the Sharks are again
— struggling to find their groove against a lower-seeded team in
the postseason’s first round. They’re trying to make sure it now
doesn’t become
”
here they go again
”
with a quick playoff exit. There was a been-there, done-that
quality to the Sharks’ lackluster, 4-0 loss Saturday against the
Los Angeles Kings that left this series tied at one game each. It
marks the fourth consecutive year the Sharks have slipped into a
maddening, opening-round malaise. And two springs ago it proved
fatal as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Sharks were upset by No. 8
seed Anaheim.
SAN JOSE
So, here the Sharks are again — struggling to find their groove against a lower-seeded team in the postseason’s first round. They’re trying to make sure it now doesn’t become “here they go again” with a quick playoff exit.
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There was a been-there, done-that quality to the Sharks’ lackluster, 4-0 loss Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings that left this series tied at one game each. It marks the fourth consecutive year the Sharks have slipped into a maddening, opening-round malaise.
And two springs ago it proved fatal as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Sharks were upset by No. 8 seed Anaheim.
That’s why the Game 2 loss to a depleted Kings’ squad only resuscitated the same old questions about San Jose’s will to compete.
“If we had answers for it, we would not do it,” defenseman Douglas Murray said Sunday. “It’s tough to say why.”
Center Joe Pavelski added: “It’s just disappointing. It’s all on us. You think about playing a certain way, and then you don’t do it.”
The consensus among the Sharks, after looking at the videotape, was they got completely outworked. While committing undisciplined penalties that contributed to a pair of early Kings power-play goals hurt, getting away from the team concept of hockey made a bad night even worse.
“Guys care,” defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. “Everybody wants to win and contribute. When things aren’t going well, everybody wants to score that goal and make that play. But we need to concentrate on our team game.”
Saturday night, the Sharks disintegrated into a bunch of individuals who just happened to be wearing the same-colored jerseys.
“We had one player last night who had well over a two-minute shift because he wanted to show his teammates that he was determined,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “But that’s not going to help us win.”
Winger Ryane Clowe was on the ice for 2:25 during one stretch in the second period when San Jose already was down 3-0.
The Kings won Game 2, Los Angeles coach Terry Murray said afterward, because their leaders picked up a team missing top centers Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll. Defenseman Drew Doughty paced that effort with two goals and two assists.
But so far, San Jose’s biggest guns have yet to exert their influence on the series. Captain Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and All-Star defenseman Dan Boyle have combined to score zero points.
That continues a trend of slow playoff starts for three of the Sharks’ top players. In the opening two games of the past three first-round series, the trio have combined for no goals and six assists.
Those numbers help explain why the higher-seeded Sharks keep finding themselves in early-round tussles. And historically, tough opening series do not bode well for long playoff runs.
McLellan wasn’t naming names Sunday about who had to become bigger factors. But it wasn’t difficult to read between the lines.
“I’d like to see our blue line step it up,” he said. “But we also need better performances from some key forwards. They know who they are, and we’ve talked to them about it already. And we expect to get that from them.”
The Sharks’ special teams have been anything but special so far. San Jose’s power play has gone zero for seven in the series. The penalty kill, which has been a weak area all season, has allowed three goals on nine opportunities by the Kings.
Doughty said the Kings are exploiting flaws they’ve identified in the Sharks’ penalty kill. San Jose players countered that the Los Angeles goals were the result of their mistakes — errors they hope not to repeat in Game 3.
“Sometimes when you get humbled as bad as we did, it’s a lot more effective than losing in overtime,” McLellan said. “Hopefully the message resonates here in the locker room.”
— Story by Mark Emmons, San Jose Mercury News
