Sharks takeaways: The power play ‘(stinks),’ and a Will Smith question
The San Jose Sharks already have one more point in three games this season than they did through their first 11 games of last year.
But it’s easy to tell the revamped Sharks do not have much use for moral victories.
Expectations are higher this season with a deeper forward group and defense corps, and the Sharks, with a little more success on the power play, could easily have five points instead of the two they have going into their game against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
The Sharks, at 5-on-5, played their best third period of the young season Tuesday against the Stanley Cup-contending Dallas Stars, creating multiple high-danger chances. But the Sharks went 0-for-3 on the power play, including a dismal performance on a critical 5-on-3 early in the third period.
That was costly, as Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves through three periods and overtime but didn’t have an answer for the Stars in the shootout, as the Sharks lost 3-2 at American Airlines Center.
Ty Dellandrea scored in his return to Dallas, and Tyler Toffoli added his second of the season for the Sharks, who have points in two of three games after starting last season 0-10-1. But that was of little consolation to this year’s Sharks team after a third straight loss – by a combined four goals — to start the year.
The Sharks lost 5-4 in overtime to the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 10 and 2-0 to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
“(Scoring was) something I really wanted to do, but it really doesn’t matter. We’ve got to get wins and find ways to close out games,” Dellandrea said. “We had looks in the third. We had chances.
“We need to get on the gas in the third period a bit more instead of sitting back. I thought we did a better job of that tonight versus (the Ducks on Saturday), but it’s still something we’ve got to improve on.”
A power-play goal against the Ducks and one on Tuesday, and the Sharks are probably 2-0-1 right now. They are now 1-for-8 with the man advantage this year.
“I mean, our power play sucks,” Toffoli told reporters postgame. “That’s pretty straight-up there.”
“I think everyone’s a little frustrated, a little somber,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. ”But we’ve got to move forward.”
Takeaways from Tuesday’s loss:
GRANLUND LEADS THE WAY: Center Mikael Granlund didn’t find the scoresheet Tuesday night but was otherwise all over the ice, doing things big and small to try and help the Sharks earn a victory.
Granlund led all Sharks forwards with 23:40 in ice time on Tuesday as he, Toffoli and William Eklund combined for 11 of the Sharks’ 27 shots on goal. He also led all Sharks forwards in combined special teams time and took 21 faceoffs, nine more than Alexander Wennberg, who had the second most.
Granlund also drew a penalty, the first of two Dallas took early in the third period. He has to take some ownership of the Sharks’ power play failures. Still, beyond that, he’s likely been everything Warsofsky had hoped for when he moved him into the top-line center role after Macklin Celebrini (lower body) went on injured reserve.
The Granlund-Toffoli-Eklund line, per Natural Stat Trick, out-chanced its opposition at even strength Tuesday 8-3.
Granlund should be a lock for Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Full rosters have to be finalized in December.
SPEAKING OF WHICH: Should Blackwood’s name be mentioned more when it comes to being one of Canada’s three goalies for the 4 Nations event, which also has the United States and Sweden?
Blackwood deserves kudos for his .899 save percentage last season, as he faced more shots per game (31.4) than any other No. 1 goalie in the NHL. Now, after two games in which he’s been peppered even more (39 shots per game), he’s at a respectable .910 save percentage.
It’s worth noting that Blackwood’s performance Tuesday, which included a breakaway stop on Evgenii Dadonov with the game tied in the third period, came in front of Stars general manager Jim Nill, who is Team Canada’s assistant GM for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Other Canadian goalie possibilities include Utah’s Connor Ingram, New Jersey’s Jake Allen, Montreal’s Sam Montembeault, Vegas’ Adin Hill, and St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington
“I thought, as a whole, we had a pretty good game tonight. Right in there right until the very end. Got a point,” Blackwood said. “Obviously, we want to come away with a win, but we’re building the right way. A step in the right direction.”
A SMITH QUESTION: Part of it might be circumstantial, but Will Smith’s ice time went in the wrong direction Tuesday.
After averaging 13:23 in ice time and 17.5 shifts in his first two NHL games, Smith had 10:10 in ice time in 15 shifts against the Stars. Smith didn’t have a shot on net and was listed as having one giveaway and losing all six of his faceoffs.
Smith, normally on the second power-play unit, had just 33 seconds of power-play time as the first unit stayed on the ice for most of the 4:24 the Sharks had with the man advantage.
Some bumps in the road were to be expected for the 19-year-old Smith early in his NHL career. The question is, what does Warsofsky do about it right now?
Stay the course, and maybe let Smith continue to learn from this as a second-line center (a tall task for any young player). Or does he maybe move Smith to the wing and let Wennberg take over second-line center duties for a bit? Wennberg was the Seattle Kraken’s second-line center for most of last season.
After Eklund struggled to produce as a center midway through last season, he was moved to the wing, where he has much more success.
Perhaps moving Smith to the wing for now will help free up his offensive game after he went without a point, with four shots, in the first three games. But the Sharks also want to show faith in the 2023 fourth overall pick who had 71 points in 41 games for Boston College last season. What do they do?