Well, the Sharks certainly made it interesting. Every time the Ducks scored a goal on Friday evening, the Sharks came back and were able to tie things up. They even got the game-tying goal late in the third period that took their contest into overtime – at least, before they lost 4-3.
Perhaps at a different time of year, getting their first point in five games would feel better. Not on this night.
The focus remains on the work to be done with just seven games left in the regular season. For Team Teal, they need to clean their game up and get back into the win column.
"It's better than nothing, but overall, we're just not finding ways to win games now," Timo Meier told the media in Anaheim regarding the single point. "We've got to find a way to win games. It's an important time of the year. Playoffs are really close."
San Jose put a better effort on the ice on Friday than they did the previous evening in LA against the Kings, but the opportunistic Ducks were able to bury more of their chances,
"I don't think we gave them very much," Peter DeBoer said. "Every chance they got, they stuck in the net, though."
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DeBoer was more critical of the team a second night in a row, and rightfully so. Despite outshooting the opposition, the Sharks weren't able to find the back of the net enough times. They allowed two goals while playing on the penalty kill and tallied 14 giveaways. Plus, outside of Meier's power-play marker, San Jose still went one-for-five on the man advantage. Despite tying the score up three times, the Sharks couldn't keep the Ducks from responding.
Clearly, all areas of the game need to be tweaked.
"We've got to find a way to get an extra save, and on (the other) end we've got to find a way to get another goal," DeBoer said. "We could've used a power-play goal tonight -- another one."
Perhaps the only silver lining, as Meier put it, is that the Sharks are going through this stretch now instead of once they get into the playoffs. San Jose is still trying to get some of its key players healthy and into the lineup so they can make a deep playoff run with the lines and pairs they want. The goal, at least at the moment, is to make sure this five-game skid is a lesson to learn from and not a prelude to the future.
"Get stronger as a team, get tighter as a group, and learn," Meier said. "It's going to make us stronger going into the playoffs because there are going to be lots of ups and downs coming up. It's going to make us stronger and we've got to react the right way."
