The San Jose Sharks will find out throughout the course of the season that playing the same opponent in consecutive games will have both its advantages and its drawbacks.
If the Sharks win the first game of a series, they’ll know what they’ll need to do to continue to have success while also expecting a pushback from the other team. If the Sharks lose the first game, they’ll key on what they’ll have to correct for the rematch.
Saturday, the Sharks faced an Arizona Coyotes team that played more of a complete game than they had two days earlier and lost 5-3 at Gila River Arena, as the two teams split their season-opening, two-game series.
Timo Meier had a goal and two assists and Ryan Donato scored his first goal in a San Jose uniform, but goalie Martin Jones, who shined in the Sharks’ shootout win Thursday, allowed five goals on the Coyotes’ first 22 shots.
Wilh so much parity among the five teams expected to compete for the West Division’s fourth and final playoff spot, perhaps this is the way it’s going to be for most of this year — a lot of series splits when teams play each other twice in a row.
“It’s definitely something you’ve got to get used to,” Meier said, “but it’s also a chance to kind of fix things right away against the same opponent.”
To cut down on travel costs and to try to reduce the risk of a coronavirus outbreak, NHL teams throughout this season will often be playing the same team twice in a row in the same building, sometimes on back-to-back nights.
The Coyotes (1-0-1) wanted to up their compete level after their 4-3 shootout loss to the Sharks on Thursday.
After Meier tied the game 2-2 at the 15:27 mark of the first period, with his pass attempt to Kevin Labanc in the slot going off Jakob Chychrun’s skate and past goalie Antti Raanta, the Coyotes scored the next three goals, with Phil Kessel’s goal giving his team a 3-2 lead.
“I thought we played better structure and better as a team today than we did in the first game,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “We were looking for that timely goal. I think it took a little wind (out of) the sails, their third goal. But structurally and detail-wise, I thought we were better. We spent a lot more time in their end in the (offensive) zone.”
After spending roughly the last three weeks in the Phoenix area, the Sharks (1-1-0) will finally leave Arizona on Sunday and travel to St. Louis, where they will play the Blues on Monday and Wednesday.
The Sharks’ road trip then continues with games against the Minnesota Wild on Friday and next Sunday, and closes with games against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 26 and 28.
“I love it,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said of the baseball-style format. “I know it’s been in discussion amongst players for a few years here, some guys that really want to push for this for multiple reasons — easier on the travel, I think it’s better for fans. But I enjoy it. It’s like a mini playoff series and teams can make adjustments in a couple days on each other and it’s a little bit of a chess match. I enjoy it. I hope we keep it going forward.”
Some other takeaways from Saturday.
MORE IMPACT PLAYERS: The Sharks only had one line buzzing on Thursday, but that was enough since Tomas Hertl, Evander Kane and John Leonard combined for eight points.
Saturday, the Sharks’ other top line — Couture, Meier and Labanc — had a better game, as did an adjusted fourth line of Patrick Marleau, Stefan Noesen and Marcus Sorensen. The Sharks’ power play also took a step forward, getting eight shots on goal and connecting twice.
The Sharks also cut down on the high danger chances against, going from 17 on Thursday, according to naturalstattrick.com, to seven on Saturday.
Jones might have been the victim of some unfortunate bounces, but also wasn’t at the level he was at in the opener. The Sharks were caught cheating for offense at least a couple times in the second period, leading to odd man rushes the other way.
FACEOFF TROUBLE: The Sharks won only 45 percent of their faceoffs Thursday and things didn’t get any better Saturday, with the Coyotes winning 60 percent of the draws (28 of 47).
Both Jakob Chychrun and Clayton Keller’s goals came right after Coyotes faceoff wins. The Sharks were dismantled in the faceoff circle in the early going, winning just nine of 32 draws through two periods. Arizona won 28 of 47 draws for the game.
Will faceoffs be a struggle early this season. Tomas Hertl. their faceoff leader last season, was 7 of 18 Saturday. Their second and third-best players on faceoffs, Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow, are on other teams. Couture, Noah Gregor and Marleau are going to have to pick up some of that slack.
Maybe this opens the door Fredrik Handemark, a faceoff specialist, to get in the lineup soon. He could potentially slide onto the fourth line between Marleau and Marcus Sorensen.
“Our puck movement was better off of won faceoffs, but we lost too many,” Boughner said. “You chase the puck all night. So the onus is going to be on the centermen, obviously, but we also have to get some help from the wingers coming into the circle. But it’s definitely a weakness of our team right now.”
