In the midst of a three-game losing streak, the San Jose Sharks held a players-only meeting after a blowout 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.
The Sharks’ record has slipped to 7-9-1, a concerning mark as the team looks to end a seven-year postseason drought this season. The team has lost four of its past five games, with a 5-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators and a narrow 2-1 defeat to the Calgary Flames preceding Wednesday’s loss.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s not good enough. To a man, to a team. It’s not on the coaches right now,” Sharks forward Kiefer Sherwood said, per NHL.com. “We’re not winning our battles, we’re not being hard to play against, we’re not making plays, we’re just -- it’s not good enough. We have to turn it here. We have to stick together here.”
“It’s got to change,” captain Macklin Celebrini added. “We can’t let it seep into our game, but I mean, we got to be frustrated and not happy with the way we’re playing.
“We know what we have in this room, and we believe in each other. We’re a team, first and foremost.”
Celebrini said the team was planning to keep the message of the players-only meeting private, while head coach Ryan Warsofsky said he was happy to see the group take it upon themselves to try to right the ship.
“That’s up to them. It shows that we’ve got some leadership in here, and we’re all frustrated,” Warsofsky said.
The trouble started early for the Sharks on Wednesday as Adrian Kempe scored less than 90 seconds in to give the Kings an early lead. Kempe scored again later in the frame and Quinton Byfield added a power-play goal to put Los Angeles up 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Celebrini scored his sixth goal of the season to cut the deficit to two early in the second period, but the Kings pulled away with two goals later in the frame, which included Kempe completing his hat trick.
The Kings have been digging out of an 0-4-2 hole to start the season and now sit 5-7-2 after their win over the Sharks.
The rivalry between the two California teams appeared to grow more bitter Wednesday night, with Sherwood taking exception to how the Kings finished out the game.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror and do something about it,” Sherwood said. “(The Kings were) up 6-2, put their top power play out. (Artemi) Panarin’s blocking shots, celebrating to his bench. It’s disrespectful. Until we do something about it, things aren’t going to change unless we man up and do something about it.”
The Sharks will visit the Minnesota Wild on Friday and the Dallas Stars on Saturday to close out their current three-game road trip. The team will next face the Kings on Dec. 9 when the two teams play twice in two nights in a home-and-home series.