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The San Jose Sharks fell 3-1 to the Boston Bruins last night, marking their fourth straight home loss to begin the season.
The Sharks mixed up lines once again, with the fourth line as the only consistent. Kevin Labanc came into the lineup for Jacob Peterson (despite the fact it seemed like he was going to be placed on waivers earlier in the day), while Alexander Barabanov joined Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair on the top line, and the middle-six was thrown together with trios of Filip Zadina, Thomas Bordeleau and Kevin Labanc, and then William Eklund, Mike Hoffman and Luke Kunin (at center). Marc-Edouard Vlasic also returned to the defense group in place of Henry Thrun, while Kaapo Kahkonen got the start.
The Bruins had quite a few shots early on but the Sharks did a decent job not allowing anything really substantial, even if they weren’t creating much either. David Pastrnak did squeak a shot through Kahkonen that got behind him and nearly opened the scoring, but Alexander Barabanov was there to take it off the line.
Mike Hoffman was able to get a shot off from a good spot and the Sharks were generating a little bit of momentum as the period went on, but with under two minutes to go in the frame, Brad Marchand roofed a shot past Kahkonen to open the scoring. Then only 20 seconds later, James van Riemsdyk was able to shovel the puck across the goal line to extend the lead, and all of a sudden, it was 2-0 to end the first period.
The teams traded power plays early in the second period, and there wasn’t necessarily a ton of action from there. Kevin Labanc led a 2-on-1 that got broken up before anything could come of it, and there just weren’t a ton of chances given up, with most shots from either team being from the outside. But with only three minutes to go, David Pastrnak took the puck to the goal on a solo rush and though it looked like the Sharks' defenders would be able to take care of it, the puck bounced off Pastrnak’s skate, then a stick, and found its way in to make it a 3-0 game though 40 minutes.
The Sharks ended up with a power play early on in the third period, but it was Boston who had the best chance, as Brad Marchand came down ice on a breakaway after a turnover, but was stopped by Kahkonen. Anthony Duclair did get the Sharks on the board just past the midway mark of the period, using his speed to drive to the net on a rush, then threw the puck out front and it bounced in off a Bruin defender to break the shutout. The Sharks actually did press a little bit late for some good chances with the goalie pulled, but fell 3-1.
While it was a better performance than we’ve seen from the Sharks to this point, it seemed like after those two quick goals in the first period, it was going to be really difficult for San Jose to recover.
I really thought this would be a team that would at least score more than last year, but the Sharks are often having extreme issues sustaining pressure in the offensive zone. Missing Logan Couture doesn’t help, but a lot of the time they’re just throwing shots on net from the perimeter and hoping to get lucky. Here and there we’ll see a fleeting chance or an opportunity off the rush, but they’re few and far between, rather than generating much sustained momentum.
The positive: I mentioned it last article, but no complaints about the Smith-Sturm-Zetterlund trio. They’re going hard after pucks every shift and are consistently getting shots on goal and generating chances. There’s a reason they’re the line being kept together as the top-nine continues to be scrambled each and every game.
That said, it’s also a good step to see Anthony Duclair get on the board. The winger was a pretty huge addition to the forward group but hasn’t been able to get a ton going so far, so hopefully he’s able to build a bit of momentum from here.
Looking on defense though, the Marc-Edouard Vlasic/Matt Benning pairing had a tough night. Vlasic returned to the lineup, just to post an almost unbelievably poor expected goals for percentage of just 3 percent at even strength. The Sharks were outshot 16-2 while Vlasic was on ice at even strength (and 10-2 while Benning was on ice), according to NaturalStatTrick.com
Kaapo Kahkonen did put together a pretty decent performance, stopping 33 of 36 shots. But it seems like unless a netminder is able to put up a ‘Blackwood vs Avalanche’ level of performance, the Sharks are going to struggle to win games.
On a separate note: Radim Simek was also placed on waivers in somewhat of a surprising move. It does provide some clarification as to how San Jose would handle their logjam on defense, and the reality is the defenseman doesn’t factor into long-term plans. Now’s the time to experiment with others in the lineup, even if it means assigning Simek to the AHL.
So with the loss, the Sharks wrap-up their season-opening homestand with an 0-3-1 record. They’ll now head out on a five-game road trip, beginning tomorrow against the Nashville Predators.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Sharks announce 23-man roster
- Sharks fall 4-1 to Golden Knights in season opener
- Sharks fall to Avs in shootout but Mackenzie Blackwood steals the show
- Sharks remain winless after 6-3 loss to Hurricanes 
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