The San Jose Sharks are simply not in the identical weight class because the Vegas Golden Knights, and so they haven’t been for years.
The query stays – who do the Sharks match up properly in opposition to proper now?
The Sharks acquired off to a different devastatingly sluggish begin Saturday, permitting 22 pictures and three targets within the first interval in what turned a 7-3 loss to the Golden Knights, marking their ninth straight defeat to start out the season.
The Sharks are actually the primary workforce in NHL historical past to go winless of their first 9 video games in back-to-back seasons.
The Sharks (0-7-2) allowed targets to Tanner Pearson and Jack Eichel within the opening 3:47 earlier than Brett Howden scored off an help from Tomas Hertl for a 3-0 Golden Knights 16:46 into the primary interval.
The Sharks acquired targets from Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm, and Luke Kunin however by no means critically threatened the Golden Knights. San Jose is now 0-16-3 in October video games since a 4-3 time beyond regulation win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 27, 2022.
It was an evening to overlook for Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek, who was underneath siege for the primary two durations but additionally skilled a few moments he’d prefer to have again.
Pearson’s purpose on the primary shot of the sport on the 1:57 mark of the primary interval went proper between Vanecek’s pads, a deflating second for a Sharks workforce hoping to get off to an honest begin.
Then, within the second interval with the Sharks on the facility play, quickly after Granlund scored his fourth of the season on the 10:13 mark, Vanecek was indecisive about popping out to play the puck that had been cleared into the San Jose finish.
William Karlsson received the race to the puck, chipped it forward to himself, skated again towards the middle of the ice and fired a shot that beat Vanecek and Alexander Wennberg for a 4-1 Golden Knights lead.
Vanecek made 35 saves on 42 pictures.
Granlund’s purpose snapped a 10-period goalless drought at even power. However an opportunity to make it a one-goal sport on an influence play that’s been good of late turned proper again right into a three-goal deficit.
It was merely the type of gaffe the Sharks might ailing afford to make.
Now the Sharks shut the highway journey in opposition to the Utah Hockey Membership, then return house to face the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. They’ll should win a kind of video games to keep away from the indignity of going winless of their first 11 video games for a second straight season.
The Sharks began 0-10-1 final yr, matching the second-longest winless streak to start out a yr in NHL historical past. Six different groups have gone 11 video games with out a win to start out a season, however the 1943-44 New York Rangers maintain the all-time file, going their first 15 video games with out a win.
The Sharks face a Utah workforce subsequent week that began the yr on a scorching streak however has since misplaced 5 of its final six to fall to 4-4-1.
The Sharks have a rematch in opposition to the Kings, who they simply misplaced two 3-2. At Crypto.com Enviornment on Thursday, the Sharks fell behind 3-0 after the primary interval, steadily bettering as the sport went on however couldn’t discover the equalizer.
The Sharks stay one of many lowest-scoring groups within the NHL. They nonetheless haven’t acquired a purpose from one in all their defensemen this season and are ready for a handful of their forwards to search out the again of the online.
Initially Printed: October 26, 2024 at 9:37 p.m.
