The San Jose Sharks were a complete no-show in the first period of the biggest game of their season so far.
The Sharks committed one mistake after another, lost one battle after another, hung their goalie out to dry, and were totally outclassed in the opening 20 minutes of what became a 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators scored five times on their first seven shots, earned their fifth straight win, and, most importantly, extended their lead over the wilting Sharks for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Goals by Filip Forsberg, Matthew Wood, and Roman Josi in the opening 11:40 of the first period all came after Sharks puck-handling mistakes. Luke Evangelista and Brady Skjei’s ensuing goals came after the Sharks were simply outworked and outhustled.
Will Smith scored twice, snapping a nine-game goal drought, and Adam Gaudette added one for the Sharks, who have now lost five straight games, falling seven points back of the Predators with 13 games left to play. San Jose has also lost 14 straight games to Nashville, dating back to Dec. 10, 2019.
Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, making his fourth straight start, finished with 13 saves. Yaroslav Askarov backed him up, but, coming off a lower-body injury and just one practice back with the team on Monday in San Jose, was kept out of the game.
Goalie Juuse Saros, who has dominated the Sharks in his career, made 27 saves in the Predators’ win, including 23 in the final two periods. Before Tuesday, Saros was 13-2-1 with a .928 save percentage in 17 career games against the Sharks.
The Sharks’ road trip continues with games against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday and the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
The Sharks were hoping to use Tuesday’s game as a springboard to not only cut into Nashville’s lead in the Western Conference but also get some confidence back after they were outscored 21-8 on their four-game skid, which included road losses to the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers, and home losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers.
The Sharks’ chances of making the postseason before Tuesday’s game were 15.8%, per moneypuck.com. That figure will undoubtedly shrink by Thursday.
The Sharks on Tuesday were without their third leading scorer, Tyler Toffoli (lower body injury), and one of their emotional leaders, Ryan Reaves (hand injury), and dressed eight players ages 23 or younger. Toffoli could be back for Thursday’s game, but Reaves is considered week to week.
Igor Chernyshov, who assisted on Smith’s third-period goal at the 1:40 mark of the third period, returned to the Sharks’ lineup Tuesday after he missed the previous four games with a head injury sustained in the team’s game against the Montreal Canadiens on March 14.
Chernyshov, 20, started the game on the Sharks’ top line alongside Macklin Celebrini and Smith. Chernyshov mostly played with Celebrini in his first NHL opportunity earlier this season, collecting 11 points in 15 games from Dec. 16 to Jan. 19.