On Tuesday the San Jose Sharks ended a five-game road trip in Nashville with an 8-2 loss to the Predators.
Midway through the opening period, the Predators’ Roman Josi scored a slap shot assisted by Ryan McDonagh and Filip Forsberg.
With under three to go, the Sharks’ Mikael Granlund netted a wrister to tie the game. The shot was assisted by newly acquired Klim Kostin and Mario Ferraro. Ferraro’s assist earned him his fourth point in the past three games.
Despite a tied score, the Predators dominated after 20, winning 15-6 faceoffs and outshooting the Sharks more than doubly 17-8.
At 5:46 in the second, Ferraro’s wrister, assisted by Thomas Bordeleau and Justin Bailey, gave Sharks a 2-1 lead.
Nearing the midway point of the second, Nashville’s Jason Zucker made it a tied game again. His wrist shot was assisted by Colton Sissons and McDonagh.
Preds took the lead when Michael McCarron scored a wrist shot goal assisted by Kiefer Sherwood and Josi.
Minutes later, Nashville made it 4-2 with a backhander from Luke Evangelista, assisted again by Josi and Forsberg.
After forty, the Sharks had won fifty-fifty on the draw but were outshot 26-17 and this time trailing by two.
Midway through the third is when things went from bad to worse for the Sharks.
At 10:35, Nashville’s McCarron scored a goal assisted by Sherwood. It took the score to 5-2 but it wasn’t over yet.
Team Teal let three more goals go unanswered in the span of two minutes and seven seconds.
At 14:13, Mark Jankowski scored a goal off a deflection, assisted by Tyson Barrie and Anthony Beauvillier.
30 seconds later Forsberg’s wrister, assisted by Gustav Nyquist and McDonagh, made the score 7-2.
And just 1:37 later Tommy Novak scored a backhander assisted by Sherwood and Jankowski.
Post game, head coach David Quinn told the press, “Just really got away from giving ourselves any type of chance. It’s 4-2 with ten minutes to go and you think, ‘Alright all you need is to get one and it’s a game.’ And then we go four holes in the last ten minutes and that’s really disappointing.”
Final score, 8-2, Preds. Nashville outshot the Sharks 40-20.
Twelve minutes into the third, the Sharks had just one shot on goal. In total during the third, the Sharks were outshot 14-3.
“It was embarrassing. Just the last 30 minutes; it was not good,” Granlund said.
The centerman logged 18:48 minutes of ice time and played 23 shifts. Granlund logged a goal, two shots on net, one hit, and a minus-three ranking in the game.
Team Teal won 18 faceoffs, while the Preds took 36, leaving the Sharks with a 33 percent success rate. The Predators were able to capitalize off draws and convert faceoff wins into offensive opportunities.
Alternate captain Luke Kunin said, “It was pretty clear the things we were doing to kind of feed their offense…They’re a good team, they play fast, they capitalize on their chances, and they did that tonight.”
At one point in the second, defensemen Jan Rutta and Henry Thrun had a 3:30 shift on the ice. Under continuous pressure in their defensive zone, Rutta ended with a minus-five rating and Thrun with a minus-six.
Returning home, second-line center William Eklund was demoted to fourth line to start Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The 21-year-old winger didn’t pick up any points on the five-game road trip. Eklund’s last point came in the form of an assist during the Sharks’ 2-1 win over Ottawa. A change in line assignment could offer Eklund a fresh perspective and spark a positive difference in his game.
Up next, the Sharks play two more games at home.
The Blackhawks, with a 19-45-5 record, face the Sharks, with a 16-45-7 record, as Team Teal seeks a win Saturday.
San Jose will face the Stars, who are projected by Stathletes with a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. This will be the teams’ last matchup of the season as the Sharks go against their former captain Joe Pavelski. The Stars’ alternate captain, a top-three point leader, has tallied 24 goals and 34 assists in 70 season games.
Hopefully the Sharks will be able to get something out of their homestand.
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