Just because the calendar turned to 2016 doesn’t mean the San Jose Sharks left behind all of the issues that plagued them on home ice through the first three months of the season.
Through a host of giveaways and a couple of unnecessary momentum-killing penalties, the Sharks were again unable to win a second consecutive game at SAP Center this season, giving up two first-period goals en route to a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
The Sharks do not play again until Thursday when they face Detroit, the only five-day break between home games they have this season. They then conclude their five-game homestand next Saturday afternoon against Toronto.
Until Thursday, they’ll have a ton to stew on with this one.
The Sharks converted one of five power-play chances, as their lone goal came from Brent Burns with 10:37 left in the second period. Otherwise, the Sharks were unable to generate much sustained pressure at even strength, as the pace of the game seemed to fit the Jets’ opportunistic style.
Martin Jones stopped 17 of 20 shots before he was pulled for Alex Stalock to start the third period. It was the fourth time this season Jones had been pulled by Sharks coach Pete DeBoer, either for performance or because DeBoer wanted to create a spark.
It didn’t work Saturday, as the Sharks dropped to 0-5 this season when trying to win back-to-back games at home.
The Sharks appeared to have the momentum midway through the second period. Burns scored a power-play goal to cut the Jets’ lead to 2-1, and that was quickly followed by penalty to Winnipeg’s Toby Enstrom for tripping Tommy Wingels.
But the Sharks failed to capitalize on the ensuing power play, then took a needless penalty of their own with 5:31 left in the second when Justin Braun sent the puck over the glass for a delay of game call. Just 26 seconds later, Mathieu Perreault sent a wrist shot past Jones’ blocker for a 3-1 Jets lead.
The Sharks had to once again play from behind in a home game, as the Jets scored a shorthanded goal with 6:46 left in the first period.
After taking a pass from Burns inside the Sharks’ zone, Joel Ward blindly threw a backhand pass toward the middle of the ice. The pass was tipped forward by Jets center Blake Wheeler, who picked it up, eluded a sliding Burns and fed Drew Stafford for his 12th goal of the season.
Since the start of December, the Sharks have given up the first goal in five of six home games.
Logan Couture was playing in second straight game after he missed nearly three weeks recovering from surgery to stop bleeding in his right thigh. He had 15 minutes and 22 seconds of ice time in Wednesday’s 4-2 Sharks win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Nearly six minutes of that came when the Sharks were on the power play, as they were 3 for 6 with the man advantage.
“The next day getting out of bed was a nice reminder that you’re back playing in the NHL and you’re body’s not going to feel too good,” Couture said Saturday morning. DeBoer said he would still manage Couture’s minutes Saturday to a certain extent. The only limitation Couture has right now is that he won’t be a part of the team’s penalty kill unit for the time being.
DeBoer and Jets coach Paul Maurice, friends since they started to play junior hockey together in the mid-1980s, faced each other as coaches in the NHL for the 23rd time Saturday. Maurice, 48, and DeBoer, 47, each have 11 wins in the head-to-head matchups, which began in 2008-09 when DeBoer started to coach in Florida and Maurice was already in Carolina.
“We’ve known each other since we were 16, played junior together, coached together,” DeBoer said Saturday morning. “It’s always good to catch up, but when the puck drops, there’s no doubt those two points are important to both teams. There are no friends at that point.”
DeBoer had 235 career NHL coaching wins in seven-plus seasons before Saturday. Maurice, who began as an NHL head coach when he was 29, had 538 wins in 17-plus seasons.
Sharks captain Joe Pavelski was named the team’s player of the month for December, as he led San Jose with eight goals and 15 points in 12 games last month.