NASHVILLE – The Sharks are returning to San Jose on Sunday in a crisis. Nothing good came from Saturday's 7-2 loss to Nashville, their sixth straight in regulation. Let's get to the painful three takeaways…
1 – No answers
Neither Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns nor Patrick Marleau – the three players made available to the media after Saturday's game – offered any kind of in-depth analysis of what's going wrong. Frankly, I'm not sure anyone really knows. It's hard to believe that this is the same club that had lost just two games in regulation in its previous 14 before the losing streak began.
"If you're putting a consistent effort in, battling, competing – it's tough to lose six in a row," Pavelski said. "You look at six in a row, and it just seems daunting. Like, how do you get there? So, I think we've just got to take a deep breath, really kind of refocus."
Believe it or not, coach Pete DeBoer thought Saturday's loss was "a step in the right direction" when asked why Friday night's 6-1 beat down in Dallas wasn't enough of a wake-up call. How often do you hear that after a five-goal defeat?
"I liked our game tonight better than I liked [Friday's game] regardless of the score," DeBoer said. "I don't just look at the score. If you want to just judge it on the score than you might not say it's a wake-up call, but I thought we were much more competitive tonight.
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"It was a step in the right direction. Every team goes through tough parts of the season, and this is ours. We've got a lot of character in the room. We'll get through it."
2 – Couture injury would spell doom, as Hertl still MIA
Let's face it – if Logan Couture is out for any extended period of time, this team is DOA once the playoffs begin. Couture has been the Sharks' best player since the All-Star break, and they don't have anyone on the current roster or in the system that could replace him. As of Sunday morning, there was still no word as to the severity of his injury after taking a puck to the mouth and going to a local Nashville hospital.
If Couture were to miss time, Tomas Hertl would likely become the team's second line center. Lately, though, Hertl doesn't even resemble an effective third line center. He was victimized on Nashville's first goal, which was similar to one of the Wild goals on Tuesday, when he was just too slow and not strong enough on his skates in getting outworked for a loose puck. He is scoreless in his last 12 games.
3 – Haley shows some emotion that others lack
It's understandable that Micheal Haley didn't like getting hit from behind by Calle Jarnkrok in the third period. But, you can't just make a beeline for a guy and punch him in the face. Haley will almost certainly get suspended for the play.
At least, though, Haley showed a little bit of emotion in the game, including his first period fight with Cody McLeod. Perhaps guys like Hertl, Joonas Donskoi and Mikkel Boedker could take a lesson from the fiery Haley. Those three, in particular, have been virtually useless during this six-game stretch.
If I'm DeBoer, I'd get on the phone with Doug Wilson and Roy Sommer and ask for a few guys from the Barracuda so I could – depending on the team's health situation – scratch all three of them for Tuesday against the Rangers, or at least remove Boedker and Donskoi and put Hertl back on the wing. Drastic times call for drastic measures, do they not?