The San Jose Sharks may be coming to Tampa at just the wrong time of the young season.
Winless through six games, San Jose will make its final regular-season appearance in the Sunshine State this season when it plays the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
While all 32 teams played on Tuesday for just the second time in NHL history, including the unbeaten Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins, coach David Quinn’s Sharks were trying to find their first win against the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers.
After being dominated through the first half of a scoreless game, the visitors tightened up in the remainder, held a brief lead but ultimately lost 3-1 to the Panthers, who played without their top two centers, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett.
Quinn said taking care of the puck was the biggest problem, as his team became stuck in the defensive end around goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and was hemmed in by the Panthers’ tenacious, grinding style that took them to the Stanley Cup Final in June.
“I just thought we kept giving the puck away,” said Quinn, the Sharks’ second-year bench boss. “I didn’t think we were committed in our battles and against a team like that you are going to spend a lot of time in your end and give up chances.
“That is kind of what happened, but as the game went on that happened less and less.”
What Quinn is hinting at is progress, much more than he saw Saturday in the four-game road trip’s opener in Nashville, where the Predators handled San Jose 5-1.
The outcomes show the biggest problem is scoring: The Pacific Division squad has managed just eight goals in the six games, producing only one point in the Western Conference standings.
Fabian Zetterlund and Filip Zadina lead with two scores each, accounting for half the team’s total.
Meanwhile, the Lightning regained their form Tuesday at home in a 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, shedding the memories of Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs after taking a two-goal lead into the final period.
Against Carolina, coach Jon Cooper’s bunch saw Brayden Point – a 51-goal scorer last season – finally pot one, Alex Barre-Boulet tally for the second straight game and goaltender Jonas Johansson author his second career shutout with 32 saves.
Over his past four starts, the 28-year-old Johansson (3-1-2, 2.99 goals-against average on the season) is 2-0-2 with a 2.46 GAA and a .931 save percentage.
The Lightning improved to 3-0-1 at home and 3-0-0 when scoring first.
They went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill against Carolina and have stymied the past 13 power plays since allowing Nashville’s Tommy Novak to net one in the season opener on Oct. 10.
“We played a pretty complete game,” Cooper said of the win over the Hurricanes. “I don’t think we gave them anything all night. … I thought we kept everything to the outside. The goalie got to see everything.
“I thought it was a pretty workmanlike game for the guys. We got the lead, extended it and held it. That’s what you want to do in this league, and they did it for 60 minutes.”
The Lightning conclude a five-game homestand Monday night against the Seattle Kraken.
– Field Level Media
