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Rangers looking to get back in the win column against San Jose

By Anthony Tornatore Jr

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 10: Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal with teammates during the third period against the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on December 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 10: Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal with teammates during the third period against the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on December 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Erik Karlsson #65 of the San Jose Sharks
Erik Karlsson #65 of the San Jose Sharks /

About the Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are 15-16-2 and are still looking for their first win in the month of December. They have dropped five straight, most recently to the Predators, in Nashville, 3-1. Prior to this skid, the Sharks had won 11 of their previous 13 and were only giving up 2.6 goals a game. Since this current five game slide, the Sharks have given up 4.6 goals a game and have only scored 6 goals. The Sharks will now host a seven game home stand and will try desperately to get back in the win column.

They took a big step yesterday when they fired coach Peter DeBoer. Assistant coach Bob Boughner has taken over as interim coach.  Boughner was formerly the head coach of the Florida Panthers.  There was wholesale turnover in the coaching staff as they also fired assistant coaches Steve Spott and Dave Barr along with  goaltending coach Johan Hedberg.

It remains to be seen how the Sharks will react to the change and the Rangers will be the first test.

With bad play comes bad goaltending, and that’s exactly what’s been going on in San Jose. Both Martin Jones and Aaron Dell have not been playing up to par like they’ve had in previous years. They’ve both have given up an average of over three goals a game and have saved less then 90% of their shots. Jones, who is the Sharks starting goalie, has given up at least three goals in 18 of his 26 games in the net this season. He has also been pulled four times this season by coach Peter DeBoer. Last season, he was only pulled a total of four times in 62 starts. It is quite obvious that goaltending is the reason for this most recent slide.

San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones
San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones /

On the bright side, the Sharks have five players with 20 points or more and are led by Logan Couture, who has 29 points on nine goals and 20 assists. Unfortunately, they only have two players, Evander Kane and Hertl, who’ve scored 10 goals or more. They’ve only scored 89 goals so far in 33 games, which is ranked 20th in the NHL. At this point last season, they had scored 119 goals and would wind up finishing with 289, which was second in the NHL.

Since the 2005-06 season, the Sharks have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs 10 out of the 12 years. Last season, the Sharks went on to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games in the first round. In the second round, they defeated the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Lastly, they were defeated by the St. Louis Blues in six games in the Western Conference Finals. They are looking to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2015-16 season.

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