San Jose Sharks’ numerous issues exposed by rival in blowout loss

The San Jose Sharks have a ton of things to figure out this summer if they want to move out of the NHL’s basement next season.

But what comes first? Tightening up a leaky defense? Adding some needed firepower? Improving their woebegone goaltending?

Maybe simply gaining more experience will help?

All of those issues were on display Sunday in an 8-1 thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena, matching the Sharks’ most lopsided loss of the season.

From Feb. 1 to March 7, the Sharks traded two of their leading forwards, Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund, their two most-used defensemen, Cody Ceci and Jake Walman, and two blue-collar forwards, Luke Kunin and Nico Sturm.

That’s left a lot of kids in the lineup, and as of Sunday night, the Sharks had the fourth-youngest roster in the NHL.

In other words, the Sharks do not have any margin for error right now, and when they make as many mistakes as they did against the Kings, they do not give themselves a chance.

“(The Kings) played well, but I feel we kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Sharks center Alexander Wennberg said. “We had opportunities to make different plays and we didn’t really do it. I feel like it’s a little bit of a look at ourselves and what we can change. Just not the way we want to play hockey.”

The Sharks hope their younger players are learning from these experiences. On Saturday, the Sharks dressed eight rookies when they were blasted 6-1 by the New York Rangers at home. On Sunday, they had seven first-year players in the lineup.

“When the game speeds up is where we get caught,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said when talking about the team’s youth. “When we’re playing at one speed, and you have to be able to play this game at different speeds, that’s when we get in a little bit of trouble.

“So it’s a good experience for these players that hopefully they look back, next year, the year after, whenever, as we get going here, that this is good for them, that they get punched in the face a little bit and get knocked down. It’s adversity they have to go through. That’s part of life. Things are going to happen.”

Another issue is the penalties. The Sharks took five minors in the first two periods Sunday night, allowing power-play goals to Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele.

Forward Noah Gregor was called for hooking and holding in the first period and defenseman Mario Ferraro took hooking and tripping penalties in the second. In between, rookie forward Cam Lund was also whistled for tripping, making it four stick fouls called on the Sharks in the first 40 minutes.

With Gregor serving a hooking call, Kempe scored the first of his two goals on the power play at the 15:13 mark of the opening period. With Ferraro in the box for tripping, Foegele also scored the first of his two goals on the man advantage at the 13:31 mark of the second to give Los Angeles a 4-1 lead.

On that play, Sharks goalie Georgi Romanov could not catch a shot on goal by Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke, and Foegele scored after he collected the loose puck.

“Can’t do it against any team, at any place, you just can’t do it, and we did that tonight,” Warsofsky said of the penalties. “That was really the whole shift in the hockey game.”

Kempe and Foegele each added an even-strength goal later in the second, and the Kings added two more goals in the third, as the Sharks finished March with a 5-8-0 record. They remain in 32nd and last place in the NHL’s overall standings with 49 points, two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks with nine games left in the regular season.

The Sharks also lost 8-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 5.

Lund scored for the second time in as many games, as his even-strength goal at the 4:52 mark cut the Kings’ lead to 2-1. But thanks to a Sharks defensive breakdown, Trevor Moore got that back just 2:05 later, the first of four straight goals by the Kings as they broke the game wide open.

Going into their game against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, the Sharks have been shorthanded 225 times in 73 games, an average of just over three times per game. That total, before Monday’s games, was the second-highest in the NHL, trailing only the Montreal Canadiens (230 times in 73 games).

The Sharks also had issues on the power play Sunday, going 0-for-3 with the man advantage without a shot on net. Down 1-0 in the first period, the Sharks had a two-man advantage for 1:4, but a Macklin Celebrini shot from the point off the post was as close as San Jose came to scoring.

VLASIC RETURNS: Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who turned 38 on Sunday, returned to the lineup after he had missed the last four games with an upper-body injury. He was credited with three blocked shots in 15:10 of ice time and was the only Sharks player with a positive plus/minus rating, with a +1.

SCHULDT INJURED: Defenseman Jimmy Schuldt, recalled from the AHL on Saturday with Vincent Desharnais out with an upper-body injury, did not make the trip to Southern California. Schuldt was injured in the third period of Saturday’s game, and it is unclear when he will be able to return. If he cannot return soon, that would be a blow to the Barracuda, who are still looking to clinch a playoff spot. Schuldt is the Barracuda’s captain.

NOTABLE: The Sharks’ scratches Sunday were forwards Klim Kostin, Nikolai Kovalenko, and Patrick Giles. … The Kings’ win was their 27th at home this season, setting a new franchise record. Los Angeles has 26 home wins in 1990-91, 2005-06, 2015-16, and 2022-23.