12 Straight Losses: Sharks Embarrassed Again by Leafs

TORONTO — The San Jose Sharks visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.

Henry Thrun scored, but the Sharks were embarrassed in Toronto 7-1.

Period 1

3 in: San Jose Sharks off to a slow start, but Hertl restores order, simply taking it from corner to the front.

6 in: Knies escapes Emberson in the corner, then Eklund loses it on exit. Eklund has had a tough time with the puck so far tonight.

7 in: Big pad by Kahkonen on Bertuzzi! Off a slow-looking Sharks change, Leafs D stretches it beautifully for Bertuzzi, partial breakaway.

9 in: Nice work by Sabourin behind line to win puck in battle, throw up slot to Zadina. Zadina went for the pass when maybe he should’ve shot.

8 left: Bailey in front, pass comes to him, he’s knocked down before it gets there. That seems like textbook interference. We’ll see if that’s how the refs are calling it tonight.

7 left: Third line gets bailed out by Kahkonen and a Leaf point shot that rims out. They were exhausted.

6 left: Then a post, now Sharks being run around like Saturday.

5 left: Rutta just gassed on that shift. He thought puck deflected out, raised his hand, play kept going. Zadina blocked it out. But not far enough to get a full change, a fresh Nylander picked up the puck with a head of steam. Rutta, to his credit, survived, managed to keep Nylander to the outside by just clogging middle of slot.

Rielly goal: Another Toronto post, but then Rielly makes no mistake. Zetterlund has Rielly but leaves him to cover Granlund’s man high, so you had two Sharks on one Leaf. Zetterlund matters for the future of this team, so the question is, will he learn? It won’t happen immediately, but that’s the stuff that matters long-term, his development into a winning player.

Matthews goal: Well, it’s Matthews. From that impossible angle, you just tip your hat to arguably the league’s greatest shooter.

That first period didn’t look much different than last game’s opening frame:

Home-and-home first periods between #SJSharks/#LeafsForever on 1/6 and 1/9: TOR 65-20 5v5 shot attempts, 34-8 shots, 7-2 posts/bars, 3-0 goals

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 10, 2024

Tonight’s count in these categories: TOR 33-11, 16-5, 2-1, 2-0.

Period 2

Marner goal: Deflection from side leaks through Kahkonen. I’ll give him Matthews, but I think you want that one back.

Holmberg goal: I’m not sure how Holmberg gets ahead of Burroughs there, maybe Burroughs underestimates his speed. Holds off Burroughs too.

Thrun goal: There looked like some confusion on the San Jose Sharks bench as to what the power play would look like with a couple forwards, Eklund and Hoffman having shifts skipped. Hoffman was supposed to be PP1, Eklund PP2.

Eklund is coming in now for his first shift since early in the period w/ Kunin & Bailey

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 10, 2024

Eklund’s first shift back starts with a turnover on OZ entry. Just not his game with the puck so far.

Hoffman comes back in on fourth line.

Blackwood has calmed things down with some stops, but San Jose Sharks are still being run around the rink.

Looks like lines have settled down: Eklund stays with Hertl, add Zadina — second and third lines about the same — fourth line, Hoffman for Zadina.

4 left: Ferraro has battled Matthews with some success tonight. I know, I know. I love me some Mario. But he battled him well just there in the corner, and Auston is a big boy. I still maintain, put him on a better team, you’ll see a better Ferraro.

#LeafsForever just running circles around #SJSharks through 2 periods, per @SPORTLOGiQ.

This looks worse than Saturday: pic.twitter.com/iUsClAQz6j

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 10, 2024

Period 3

Zadina has a really strong shift to open the period next to Hertl. That times one thousand.

McCabe goal: But then, in what needed to be some sort of a response period for the San Jose Sharks, they leave pointman McCabe all alone off to side to walk down. Looks like maybe Granlund overcommitted on a Leaf that was covered, then Duclair switched to Matthews who was up high. McCabe was Duclair’s man, but you understand switching on Matthews there. The only thing I could think otherwise is that Granlund is allowed to freelance and would’ve come back on Matthews, while Duclair needed to stay on his man.

Ah, but eat Arby’s. Sabourin double-minor. Marner and Robertson score on it.

10 left: Doesn’t matter down 7-1, but behind Blackwood there, that’s an example of Ferraro doing too much with the puck.