Can Quinn Put Sharks Together Before Grier Breaks Them Apart?

David Quinn nodded five times without saying a word when I asked him if the San Jose Sharks took the Anaheim Ducks too lightly in the first period on Tuesday night.

“[Two] and six,” Quinn finally offered, “probably had something to do with it.”

Quinn, of course, was referring to the Ducks’ 2-6-1 record going into the contest. It’s now 3-6-1, of course, after Anaheim edged San Jose 6-5 in the shootout. With that loss, the 3-8-1 Sharks actually dropped to second-to-last place in the Pacific Division behind the Ducks.

At practice the next day, I was about to ask Quinn the obvious follow-up, when he interjected for me: “Who the hell are we to take anybody for granted?”

Captain Logan Couture echoed the same sentiment: “Our records are pretty similar. I don’t think we’re in a position to take anyone lightly.”

And yet…

For the record, Couture did not think that the Sharks took the Ducks lightly in an opening frame where they got outshot 17-10 and surrendered easy goals. And Quinn allowed for that possibility too.

“I just didn’t think we executed,” Couture said. “We played pretty loose.”

“We weren’t sharp. I thought leading up, our details in our D-zone were pretty good,” Matt Benning shared. “And tonight, we left bodies open.”

Whatever the reason for the San Jose Sharks’ loose first period, it was a disappointing statement from a team that needs to buckle down and win some games.

It also, perhaps, speaks to a larger mental hurdle that the Sharks have yet to clear.

Look, we know the San Jose Sharks are facing a talent deficit. They know it.

“It’s nice to score five goals, but at same time, we let in five as well. For this group, I don’t think it’s been what we’re about, how we’re going to win most games moving forward,” first-time hat trick scorer Erik Karlsson acknowledged.

And that’s okay. Winning teams have had less talent than these San Jose Sharks.

But the Sharks have battled more than a lack of talent this season.

Just two weeks ago, we were talking about a “fragile” group that was hanging their heads after goals allowed. They didn’t appear to believe in each other.

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Now, we might be talking about a 3-8-1 team – not an 8-3-1 group – taking opponents for granted.

“It’s frustrating, but it was a one-off, and hopefully, we learned our lesson,” Quinn said.

Quinn has 70 games – or probably less, depending on when GM Mike Grier starts breaking apart the team – to mold the San Jose Sharks into something more than what we expect. The early returns, obviously, haven’t been impressive.

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But on the whole, there are actually some promising signs. Benning mentioned the Sharks’ previously-strong defensive zone details. He wasn’t just flapping his lips.

Even after Tuesday night, per Natural Stat Trick, San Jose is 12th in the NHL in High-Danger Attempts Against Per 60 at 5-on-5. In contrast, the 2019-22 Sharks were 25th in this key defensive category.

The point is: People think of teams as ready-made mentally going into the season. Like you’re a strong group psychologically because you have X player and Y player. And that makes sense, especially when we’re talking about a group comprised of many veterans like the Sharks.

But the way that Quinn has talked about San Jose this year, on and off the ice, he obviously sees it as a process. And it probably is. So can the San Jose Sharks be better in November than they were in October?

They were 3-8-0 in October, and November got off on the wrong foot. But from a surprisingly stout team defense to Karlsson’s scoring tear, there are some blocks for Quinn to build with. Can he put the Sharks together before they’re broken apart?