SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks knew they needed a response after they ended their recent road trip with a pair of lackluster performances.
The Sharks took a step in the right direction Sunday but failed to fully capitalize on their numerous opportunities in a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center.
With the Sharks trailing 2-0, William Eklund scored a power-play goal at the 18:25 mark of the first period. But the Sharks failed to score on four other power play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 for 70 seconds, as they lost their sixth straight game to start the season.
The Sharks (0-4-2) largely dominated the second period as they outshot the Avalanche 13-6. But they allowed an even-strength goal to Joel Kiviranta midway through the third period and an empty-net goal to Cale Makar with 1:37 to go.
Ross Colton scored twice for Colorado, including a power play goal just 6:23 into the first period after the Sharks were called for too many men.
Colton scored a second goal at the 16:37 mark of the first period, and Avalanche’s goalie, Justus Annunen, scored 25 saves. Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves as he appeared in his third straight game.
The Sharks now go on a four-game road trip with stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Utah.
The Sharks had Eklund and Will Smith back in the lineup Sunday as they looked to end a five-game losing streak.
Eklund was a scratch for Friday’s game played in Winnipeg after he played the first two games of the road trip. He was in the lineup Tuesday against the Dallas Stars in the first game of the trip, but did not practice the following day in Chicago. He played through the injury Thursday night against the Blackhawks in a 4-2 Sharks loss and had two assists in over 19 minutes of ice time.
Eklund entered Sunday with three assists in four games as he averaged over 21 minutes in ice time, second-most among all Sharks forwards.
Smith played against the Blackhawks and had what Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said was his best game of the season, as he played over 19 minutes. But as part of the team’s development plan for the 19-year-old center, the Sharks rested Smith for the following night’s game in Winnipeg, where the Jets cruised to an 8-3 win.
With those two coming back into the lineup, Givani Smith and Klim Kostin were scratched. Jack Thompson also replaced Matt Benning on the Sharks’ third defense pair, playing alongside Henry Thrun.
After their poor performances against the Blackhawks and Jets, the Sharks wanted to get back to how they played in their first three games. San Jose lost 5-4 in overtime to St. Louis on Oct. 10 and 2-0 to the Anaheim Ducks two days later before their 3-2 shootout loss to the Stars.
“Are we skating on our reloads? Are we tracking? Are we physical? I would say those three things are the big things that I look for,” Warsofsky said before Sunday’s game. “Are we stopping and starting on pucks?
“We didn’t have much of that, obviously, in Winnipeg. So hopefully we can kind of get that thing going back again. We did the first three games.”
CELEBRINI UPDATE: Macklin Celebrini has started skating again, Warsofsky said, although he remains week to week with a lower-body injury and has no specific timetable for a return.
The fact that Celebrini’s skating again is a sign of progress. Until recently, he had been kept off the ice since his NHL debut on Oct. 10 with a hip injury he’s dealt with since training camp. On Oct. 1, in a preseason game against the Utah Hockey Club, Celebrini was tripped up in front of the net on a partial breakaway, fell, and landed hard — hip first – into the end boards.
Celebrini left that game midway through the second period but rejoined the Sharks practice on Oct. 7 and skated with the team each day leading up to the season-opener against St. Louis. In his debut, Celebrini had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Blues.
OTHER INJURIES: Forward Thomas Bordeleau and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin are both now considered day-to-day with their respective injuries. Bordeleau and Mukhamadullin were both previously considered more week-to-week
Bordeleau sustained a lower-body injury early in training camp and was placed on injured reserve at the start of the regular season. Mukhamadullin (lower body) was injured in a mid-September practice and took part in an optional skate in the first week of October but has mostly skated with a group of injured players.
“They’re almost on the same timetable,” Warsofsky said of Bordeleau and Mukhamadulliin.
Mukhamadullin and fellow defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (upper body) are considered injured/non-roster players.
