There's no way of sugarcoating it. The Sharks didn't play particularly well in their 4-1 loss to the Golden Knights on Wednesday night. With the exception of Martin Jones, San Jose's performance was mostly forgettable. And they have plenty of things to improve upon.
Lucky enough for them, one game does not a season make. Now that the not-so-stellar season opener is in the rearview mirror, the Sharks need to learn from what they did wrong and put a different product out on their home ice Friday night -- and the 80 games that follow.
San Jose's biggest issue Wednesday was one that doomed them in many a-game last season: Their defense just wasn't tight enough. This wasn't solely the fault of the blue line, though. The Sharks' entire defensive effort gave the Knights too much room to capitalize on chances.
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It didn't help, either, that San Jose spent a good deal of time in their own end. Despite getting good offensive zone time towards the end of the first period and notching their lone goal on the evening thanks to Marcus Sorensen, the Sharks backpedaled after that and had difficulty getting out of their own zone.
There's also the matter of the early-period goals. It was known that the first few minutes of the season opener would be crucial for the Sharks, but perhaps that should have been extended to the first few minutes of each frame. San Jose did a good job of rallying after falling into a 2-0 hole and was able to cut Vegas' lead in half before the first 20 minutes expired. Unfortunately, that momentum didn't carry over into the second stanza, and the Knights were able to increase their lead to 3-1 just over two minutes in. Vegas never let go of control of the game after that.
The Sharks also had trouble in the faceoff circle, went 0-for-5 on the power play, and tallied only five shots on goal through the entire second period.
All of this, of course, made Jones' job much harder. He was a bright spot for the Sharks on Wednesday, settling in after giving up two early goals and keeping the game from getting out of hand. For all the flack Jones caught last season, he showed on Wednesday night he can turn his game around. Now, he just needs help in front of him so that effort translates into wins.
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The Sharks don't need to improve in these areas simply because they're facing off against Vegas again on Friday; these are things the team needs to fix to have a successful season. San Jose knows this new season offers up a new crop of challenges and that adjustments must be made, and now the team has seen what adjustments need to be made in a game that actually counts.
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It's still too early to push the panic button and assume the Sharks' fate has already been sealed. The key now is to learn from their mistakes in the season opener, and to keep those mistakes from becoming habits.