The Sharks closed out a forgetful unofficial first half of their regular season against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday night. Just like so many of San Jose's games thus far, it ended in a lackluster loss.
While Team Teal ended up suffering a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Canucks, it could have been much worse. The Sharks were unable to sustain any kind of offensive pressure, and goaltender Aaron Dell had to be on top of his game to prevent the score from getting out of hand -- which it eventually did.
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The loss completes a winless three-game road trip for San Jose, over which the team was outscored 14-4.
Here are three takeaways from the Sharks' final game before the All-Star break:
Message not received
After San Jose's 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, Sharks interim head coach Bob Boughner didn't mince words when calling out his team, saying, "I think it's time to man up." Boughner then sent another message to his squad when he made Marcus Sorensen a healthy scratch for Saturday's matchup with the Canucks, pleading for more "relentlessness."
San Jose Sharks
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Who knows about Sorensen, but as for the rest of the Sharks, it did not appear that they heeded their coach's message. At no point throughout Saturday's game did San Jose impose its will on the opposition. In fact, it usually was the other way around.
The Sharks entered Saturday trailing the Canucks by 10 points in the standings. It's 12 now, and for a team with such little margin for error, San Jose's performance did not reflect the kinds of urgency one would expect.
Shots, shots, shots
The Sharks are averaging nearly one fewer goal per game than they did last season, and while you can point to the absence of certain individuals as perhaps the main reason why, it's really tough to score without getting pucks to the net. San Jose provided even more evidence of that fact Saturday night, accumulating only seven shots on goal through the first two periods, compared to 27 for Vancouver. It wasn't simply a failure to get shots through, either. The Canucks had attempted 54 shots entering the third period, while the Sharks had attempted precisely half that number.
San Jose tested Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko more in the third period with 10 shots on goal, and Barclay Goodrow was even able to find the back of the net to prevent Team Teal from being shut out for a second consecutive game. But considering how badly they needed a victory, the Sharks' slow start doomed them in the end.
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Not-so-special teams
The Sharks have been able to hang their hat on their No. 1-ranked penalty kill all season long, but it hasn't been nearly as dominant as of late. Vancouver went 1-for-6 on the power play against San Jose, marking the third time in four games that the Sharks have been scored on while shorthanded. And in the only game San Jose didn't allow a power-play goal, the Sharks gave up a short-handed goal to the Avalanche.
The Canucks' lone power-play goal Saturday proved to be the game-winner. The Sharks haven't had many relative strengths this season, but when the few that they have had start to stumble, San Jose simply doesn't have much recourse.