Postgame Notes #38: Sharks Give One Away, Lose 5-1 to Ducks

Period 1

Opening shift: Burns drop pass in OZ to Labanc misses, that might be a 2-on-1 if Vlasic, for example, was Burns’s partner and not the fleet Ferraro.

3 minutes in: Beaut of high-low pass from Karlsson to Balcers.

Henrique goal: That doesn’t look like good recognition by Labanc, he needs to stay with Henrique there and not expect Ferraro to be there. Basically, winger has to adopt center mentality, hunker down, skate hard, and help out down low.

8 minutes in: Dangerous pass back to Karlsson from Gregor on breakout. Touched by Ducks stick. But it got through. Regardless, the speed and physicality are obvious with Gregor, reminds me of a pinball out there. Just being OK/adequate in weaknesses will help a lot in long run, but best skills are obvious and they belong here.

8 minutes left: Much better job going down to help out in DZ by Labanc there.

7 minutes left: Good Balcers’s shift. See the offensive confidence. Second line in general has been San Jose Sharks’ best.

10-9 Viel over Carrick. That would be Trevor’s brother Sam. Viel and Trevor Carrick were teammates on Barracuda for two seasons.

Jeez pic.twitter.com/QKOE94IA4l

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) April 7, 2021

2 minutes left: Big block by Balcers, he’s underrated in that department. Then he springs Meier and Hertl with a gorgeous area pass:

Gorgeous Balcers area pass springs Meier and Hertl for 2-on-1 pic.twitter.com/kp6ydGeAs2

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 7, 2021

Feels like San Jose Sharks are toying with a depleted Ducks squad: I don’t mean that in a good way. They’re too loose defensively, possibly figuring they’re going to get their chances against a porous Ducks team. 12-12 Scoring Chances at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, Sharks 8-4 High-Danger. That looks good, but San Jose has to be more focused and engaged.

Period 2

Too much free stuff: Ducks take advantage of not a great Labanc penalty. Comtois gets behind Burns, who doesn’t tie up stick on Ducks PP strike. San Jose Sharks were better in first period, but they’re not good enough to be giving free stuff like Henrique in slot and this power play.

Labanc gets one back with a gorgeous fake that gives Marleau all day. Karlsson an artist there too.

But then Jones loses track of the puck, think he has it, leads to easy putback. Second time, back-to-back games:

Bad Ferraro-Burns miscommunication there…#SJSharks clearly the better team, but they're giving too much free stuff to #FlyTogether. Sharks aren't good enough to be giving away this much free stuff

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 7, 2021

10 minutes left, Leonard NZ pass, trying to get rush going, denied. Makes me think, this line with Donato-Gambrell-Leonard, if the speed game isn’t there, what’s their backup game? Don’t know what it is.

Ferraro, by the way, was just out there for 2:03.

7 minutes left, not a good pass by Donato there on PP, they had Ducks scrambling, he passes behind Balcers. Not end of the world, but little execution things like that are difference between golden chance and puck being cleared.

It’s a fortunate bounce for Ducks, but this is one of those games where Ducks have earned the bounces. Disastrous effort from San Jose Sharks tonight.

Following shift, dazzling one-man shift from Karlsson. There’s a turnover from him in the mix, but he’s pushing pace. He’s one of the few Sharks that has looked remotely ready to play tonight.

2 minutes left: Leonard gets puck along wall in DZ, spins, like it’s a drill with Mike Ricci, gets it out.

Period 3

Couple good chances there, Hertl in slot then on ensuing PP, but you spot other team a lead, face a goalie playing well, and you’re done.

You’re also done when you completely miss the net like Hertl does on an open net there on a pretty Burns PP pass.

That kind of night for San Jose Sharks: Pass back to Ferraro, he has plenty of time and space, puck hops over stick, Anaheim has 2-on-0 going the other way. Looks like a big save by Jones on Deslauriers, but probably too little, too late. You could stomach a game like this, especially in light of how well Sharks have played recently, if you had banked points – San Jose, of course, did not bank points early on.

7 minutes in: NOT a handsome bit of stickhandling by Viel on his own in NZ, leads to turnover. He probably needed help there that he didn’t get, but nonetheless – just bank it off the boards or something.

Couture blocked a shot there with about 3 minutes left, in a lot of pain. He was walking it off back and forth in hallway, stayed on bench, but then didn’t take his power play shift.