- Editor's note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on X at @Sheng_Peng.
Ryan Warsofsky didn’t care about William Eklund getting a misconduct.
With 49 seconds to go in the Sharks’ 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames, Eklund got himself a misconduct for abuse of officials.
What Warsofsky cared about? The slashing penalty that Eklund was called for before the young winger went off.
“Stick penalties, we just can’t have them creep back in here. It’s gonna be important in this road trip that we don’t keep doing it,” Warsofsky said.
Besides that slashing, which pretty much finished the Sharks’ chances of a late comeback, Nico Sturm took a tripping penalty and Eklund took a cross-checking.
“We can’t take like five minors tonight in this league, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Warsofsky said. “It’s 10 minutes that you’re short-handed and you have to just kill penalties.”
San Jose Sharks
I saw Eklund’s misconduct and Henry Thrun’s puck over the glass penalty, both with less than three minutes left in a one-goal game, as signs of the Sharks’ immaturity in high-leverage situations.
But it’s fair to see the stick penalties the same way.
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