David Quinn calls Sharks slow, soft after disappointing loss to Hurricanes

You could see it coming.

While the Sharks entered the final frame Tuesday night with a 3-2 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes at SAP Center, it was a tenuous hold.

The Stanley Cup contender was dominating otherwise with a 30-11 shots stranglehold, and they weren’t just perimeter bids either. According to SPORTLOGiQ, the Canes had an 11-5 high-danger scoring chances edge through two periods.

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So while Fabian Zetterlund, Filip Zadina, and William Eklund scored, it was Mackenzie Blackwood, like he did in a 51-save performance in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, who was keeping the Sharks in it. But then, the Blackwood wall fell – San Jose surrendered four unanswered goals in the third period to lose 6-3.

“I didn’t like the way that we played for most of the night. I don’t think we skated the way we have been. I don’t think we were physical enough. It ended up catching up to us,” Sharks coach David Quinn admitted after the game. “We’ve got to be way more competitive in our battles than we were tonight.

"We were way too puck-conscious throughout the game. Soft on battles.”