Sharks Locker Room: Hertl, Burroughs Know They Let Chrona Down

The San Jose Sharks have now ruined two special moments for Magnus Chrona.

Chrona, 23, made his NHL debut on Nov. 4, coming on for Mackenzie Blackwood midway through a 10-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team left him out to dry, and the rookie allowed four goals on 17 shots in 30:30 of mop-up duty.

Chrona made his first NHL start on Friday night, and once again, his team left him twisting in the wind. He stopped eight-of-12 shots, and he was mercy pulled after the first period.

The Sharks would get shut out by the Oilers 5-0.

“I feel bad for him. We didn’t do a good job playing defense in front of him tonight,” San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn lamented. “[Took] him out to protect him in a lot of ways. Not subject him to our lapses defensively.”

“We let him [out to] dry. I feel really bad for him. His first NHL game and we didn’t help him,” Tomas Hertl acknowledged.

Chrona now has a 9.50 GAA and a .724 Save % in two NHL appearances. Hopefully, better days are ahead for the Sharks prospect.

The same could be said about the team itself. They’re on a seven-game losing streak, with no end in sight. Once again, they’re the worst team in hockey by a mile.

“We still have half the season in front of us and we have to keep fighting. It’s not [about where] we end up, but we have to fight for our fans,” Hertl said. “We have to fight for every guy in the locker room because it’s family.”

Quinn gave an update on Blackwood’s status and bemoaned the defensive letdowns. Kyle Burroughs and Hertl know they let Chrona down.

David Quinn

Quinn, on pulling Chrona:

Well, I feel bad for him. We didn’t do a good job playing defense in front of him tonight. Take him out to protect him in a lot of ways. Not subject him to our lapses defensively. If you’re gonna have a chance to beat that team, you’ve got to be committed to playing defense. Just got away from our structure defensively, big-time.

Quinn, on how disappointed that he was in the San Jose Sharks’ effort defending in front of Chrona:

Very. Very. Our lack of commitment defensively, not having an F3 in the O-zone, and turnovers. Those three things happen, you’re down 4-0.

Quinn, on Mario Ferraro and Kyle Burroughs’ performance:

Yeah, but they didn’t get a lot of help from their forwards when they were out there too. To me, it was a five-man breakdown on the goals. Everybody could have done something a little bit better.

Quinn, on how the Sharks could do a better job of killing Edmonton plays, cycle:

Lift more weights?

On a serious note, we just got to get there quicker. We didn’t close quick, we were late to people, didn’t get enough support in place. We let them buzz around.

Quinn, on how Mackenzie Blackwood is feeling and when he’ll be back:

He’s feeling a lot better tonight. So, soon.

Quinn, on how the San Jose Sharks get out of another long losing streak:

You’ve got to work hard and have a good attitude. You can’t let the losing get in the way of tomorrow and the next day. You’re going to be a pro and you’ve got to embrace the challenge, which we certainly have a big one coming up here in a couple days. That’s your job as a professional: You can’t let one loss turn into another, four losses turn into five, and so on. You’ve got to have the wherewithal to reset yourself tomorrow and come back, no matter what we do tomorrow, you’re gonna make yourself better and put yourself in a better mindset to perform better on Sunday.

Quinn, on William Eklund’s performance in the third period:

I thought Eky, that line was pretty good in the third period. I thought Eklund, Kunin, and Studnicka were pretty good.

Kyle Burroughs

Burroughs, on the message to Chrona:

Short memory. Short memory. For the guy, it’s tough. Like I said, it’s not the way that we want to start for him. First NHL game is supposed to be special. Obviously, for us to let him down like that, it’s tough.

Tomas Hertl

Hertl, on the message to Chrona:

Yeah, we let him [out to] dry. I feel really bad for him. His first NHL game and we didn’t help him. Say sorry, but it sucks because it’s his first game you just left him there. I feel bad for him.

Hertl, on why the San Jose Sharks get deflated so easily:

It’s tough. Everybody’s competitive and everybody tries, everybody’s working. [I] can guarantee that everybody tries to put everything there, but it’s tough when you feel, [you] play great hockey games and somehow you just give up two goals. It’s tough, but we have to be mentally, definitely, stronger.

This year even we’ve been down couple of times, and you can come back in this league, pretty quickly.

But lately, because we try pushing, we feel like we have the scoring chances, we don’t put them in. The other team just goes, and they have two bounces. Especially, I feel like they score the bouncing goals off the skate, I feel that’s what’s putting [us] down.

But we still have half the season in front of us and we have to keep fighting. It’s not [about where] we end up, but we have to fight for our fans. We have to fight for every guy in the locker room because it’s family, and you wanna give them the best look for next season. Whatever happens, we want to help every single guy in this room, because it’s like family. We have to stay with it, and, like I always say, do it together. That’s the only way.

Special thanks to Josh Frojelin for his help transcribing.