WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The sting of Friday’s third-period meltdown in Ottawa intensified Sunday as the Sharks lost the final game of their five-game road trip in Winnipeg.
The Sharks put together a quality game against the Central Division’s top team, but they lost for the fourth time in five games, completing the road trip with a 1-2-2 record.
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Here’s what we learned as the Sharks (21-13-6) entered their five-day bye by coming out on the wrong side of a 4-1 decision against the Winnipeg Jets (25-11-7):
1. Costly penalty baffles Sharks coach.
The turning point came with 83 remaining in the second period.
After Logan Couture cut the Jets lead to 2-1 at 14:47 by recording his team-leading 16th goal, Chris Tierney received an opportunity to tie the game on a two-on-one play.
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Instead of scoring the equalizer, Tierney got hauled off to the penalty box for goaltender interference after he crashed into netminder Connor Hellebuyck. Tierney fell into the Jets goalie because he got shoved by defenseman Toby Enstrom.
Really, though.
This was called as a penalty on Tierney. What else was he supposed to do? pic.twitter.com/zHkxbfBglO
— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) January 7, 2018
Mathieu Perreault scored on the ensuing power play by sliding a rebound through Martin Jones’ legs, giving the Jets a commanding 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
“I couldn’t really go anywhere,” Tierney said, recalling the pivotal penalty. “I thought I got hit in. Obviously, the ref saw it another way. It was a big turning point. It goes from being a chance to tie it up 2-2 to being in the box and we’re down 3-1.”
The Sharks aren’t blaming the loss on the penalty.
They fell into a 2-0 hole by allowing Matt Hendricks to score off a breakaway at 12:42 of the first — a product of defensive miscues by Brent Burns and Brenden Dillon — and leaving Marko Dano alone in front of the net to redirect a point shot from Jacob Trouba at 11:03 of the second.
They also failed to generate five-on-five offense, scoring their lone goal on the power play.
What a shot. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/y7Ozdgc0Z9
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) January 7, 2018
Regardless, Tierney’s penalty deflated the Sharks comeback effort and baffled head coach Pete DeBoer.
“The third goal was really the killer,” the Sharks coach said. “I don’t understand it. I’m still looking for an explanation on how that’s a penalty, but that’s what you deal with.”
2. Sharks road trip ‘definitely could have been better’.
The Sharks faced a stacked deck Sunday.
They played a matinee in their third game in four days, the last contest of a roadie that went from Dallas to Montreal to Toronto to Ottawa to Winnipeg in eight days. They also ran into some tough luck by drawing the Jets in the final stop of the trip, the top team in the Central Division (57 points) and the NHL’s second-best home squad (16-3-1).
That’s why the Sharks third period collapse in Ottawa was such a punch in the gut. If they hadn’t coughed up a three-goal lead Friday, they would have finished the road swing with a respectable 2-2-1 record under challenging circumstances.
Instead, the trip wound up being very blah.
“We got some points, but it definitely could have been better,” Couture said.
The debacle in Ottawa only cost the Sharks a point, but right now a single point is all that’s keeping the team above the fray in the Western Conference. The Sharks, who return to action with a home game against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday, are heading into the bye clinging to the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks, two ahead of the Calgary Flames. In the wild card race, they hold a one-point edge over the Colorado Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild and a two-point lead over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Every point counts.
“Overall, we’re okay,” DeBoer said. “We’re not perfect. We’re not exactly where we want to be, but it could be worse.”
3. The Sharks are still overly-reliant on the power play for scoring.
When DeBoer took over as head coach, one of his stated goals was to improve the Sharks five-on-five scoring, making the team less reliant on the power play.
Midway through his third season in San Jose, the Sharks are back at ground zero.
Since Dec. 7, 40.9 percent of the Sharks goals (18 of 44) have come with the man advantage.
Through 40 games, the Sharks have scored the fewest five-on-five goals in the NHL, tied with the Arizona Coyotes and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
DeBoer called the Sharks a “work in progress” as the season approaches the 50-yard line.
“There’s no doubt that we need to score more (five-on-five goals). I think everyone wants to score more five-on-five other than a couple teams, but there’s no doubt (that’s true) for us,” the Sharks coach said. “We’ve had good special teams and we’re still not a high, high-scoring team.”
