On Tuesday the San Jose Sharks fell 7-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, extending a losing streak to twelve games.
The Sharks began a five-game road trip in Toronto making their record 3-17-1 away from home.
Late in the first came two Leafs’ goals from Morgan Reilly and Auston Matthews. Matthews’ goal was scored on the power play with assists from Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
Marner and Pontus Holmberg scored two more goals in the second, bringing the tally to 4-0 over the Sharks.
At 7:21 in the second, the lone Sharks’ goal came from Henry Thrun on the power play. Mikael Granlund and Anthony Duclair picked up assists on the goal.
Granlund leads Team Teal in team assists with 22. In the last five games, Granlund has four points.
In the third, the Leafs scored three goals all minutes apart to bring their lead, and final score, to 7-1. Jake McCabe scored the first with assists from Marner and Simon Benoit.
Marner and Nicholas Robertson both scored on the power play.
The Leafs were three for three on their power play while the Sharks were one for one.
A lengthy twelve-game losing skid beats the Sharks’ already bad record to start the season 0-10-1.
“Losing’s hard,” head coach David Quinn said following the loss, “I don’t care what anyone tells you. It wears on you, day and night, 24/7.”
On the road, the Sharks play the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
“It takes a special mindset to get out of what we’re in and we’re gonna get out of it. Hopefully it happens in Montreal,” Quinn said.
San Jose has a goal differential of -87 for the 2023-2024 season so far.
Getting out of the rut
With key players like Logan Couture and Nico Sturm still injured, the team will have to find other ways out of the rut.
Couture is still on injury reserve but has been back on the ice for practice and drills. On Jan 4 San Jose Hockey Now reported that Couture could be available during the five-game road trip.
On Tuesday’s game the Sharks drew two penalties, with one coming from Scott Sabourin who was recalled from the AHL.
Sabourin was recalled from the San Jose Barracuda on Monday to play on a line with Ryan Carpenter and Filip Zadina. The 31-year-old last played in the NHL in 2021-2022 with the Ottawa Senators. With the Barracuda, the six-foot-three forward has seven goals and three assists in his last 10 games. The winger could add life and physicality to the Sharks’ offense.
In the last twelve of the Sharks’ losses, there was only one game where the team was not outshot. The 5-2 loss against the Arizona Coyotes saw the Sharks put up 31-30 shots on net.
The Leafs outshot the Sharks 46-23 and won 61 percent of the faceoffs on Tuesday.
“They outplay us, outskate us, everything” Tomas Hertl said, “If we lose, we have to at least battle hard and do something. We end up doing nothing.”
In the last twelve losses, the Sharks have only managed to score multiple goals in four games.
Defenseman Mario Ferraro said, “We gotta find a way to come together not just on the ice but off the ice.”
Team Teal will look to regroup on the road and get out of a tough rut. Sharks take on the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Buffalo Sabres on Monday, and Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday before returning home.
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