Trevor Zegras and Rickard Rakell both scored in the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Sharks 4-3 on Tuesday, handing San Jose its seventh straight loss.
Both Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl were unable to beat Ducks goalie Anthony Stolarz in their shootout attempts, as the Sharks fell to 0-3-4 since a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Jan. 26.
Sharks goalie James Reimer, making his ninth straight start, allowed two second-period goals to Rakell and a first-period goal to Derek Grant, as he had 18 saves through two periods.
Brent Burns score a goal and assisted on both of Couture’s goals in regulation time as the Sharks faced the Ducks for the first time this season. Timo Meier had two assists.
Couture gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at the 13:44 mark of the second period, as he scored off a rebound from Stolarz after a Burns shot on goal. Couture, whose last two-goal game was Oct. 22 in Toronto against the Maple Leafs, now has 17 goals in 46 games this season — equaling his total in 53 games last season.
The Sharks entered Tuesday 10 points out of a playoff spot and in seventh place in the Pacific Division. Unless they can quickly turn things around, the Sharks will likely be sellers by the March 21 trade deadline.
The Sharks, though, met before their practice on Monday and felt they were spending too much time looking at the big picture. Sharks coach Bob Boughner felt things like the playoff race, the trade deadline and who may be going was taking away from their primary focus — playing the game that’s right in front of them.
“We’ve all been guilty of worrying about the big picture instead of just taking care of today, and I think that was part of the message today,” Boughner said Monday. “It’s about getting a little bit of that passion, that fun back, a little swagger. Some guys are gripping sticks a little tight or they’re not doing things that come naturally.
“We talked about this a little bit, the trade deadline stuff gets in there, the contract negotiations – all of those things, the swirling noise and everything. Our job as a coaching staff is to try and eliminate those distractions and it’s their job as players to come. We’ve got a job to do every day and we can only control what happens in the first 20 minutes (Tuesday). And that’s all we need to think about.”
Couture and Burns both scored in the first period as the Sharks led 2-1 after 20 minutes, marking the first time since Jan. 29 when they were up 2-1 on the Florida Panthers that they led after the first period.
After a Sharks turnover in the neutral zone, Grant went in on a 2 on 0 with Sam Carrick and beat Reimer at the 3:38 mark of the first period for a 1-0 Anaheim lead.
But the Sharks responded less than four minutes later. Couture won a faceoff deep in the Ducks’ zone back to Burns, whose shot toward the net went off Ryan Getzlaf and back to Couture, who scored at the 7:10 mark.
Burns then scored his first goal since Jan. 2, as after a pass back to the blue line from Matt Nieto, Burns let a shot go that beat Stolarz to the blocker side.
Tuesday’s game was the first meeting of the season between the Sharks and the Ducks, who entered Tuesday in fifth place in the Pacific Division and two points out of a playoff spot.
The Sharks begin a three-game homestand on Thursday against the New York Islanders. They face the Boston Bruins on Saturday and the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.
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