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The San Jose Sharks’ woes to start the 2023-2024 season have now reached historic proportions.
The Sharks allowed two second-period goals, including a power play marker to Sam Reinhart at the 15:23 mark, and were unable to recover in a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena.
Fabian Zetterlund scored a power-play goal at the 8:30 mark of the second period and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 32 saves as the Sharks fell to 0-5-1, marking the first time in the team’s 32-season history that they’ve started a year with six straight losses.
Last season, the Sharks lost five straight games in regulation time before they beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. The Sharks had gone winless in their first six games before, going 0-3-3 in 1995 and 0-4-2 in 1998, but that was in an era where games could end in ties.
Panthers starting goalie and noted Sharks killer Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves Tuesday and improved to 9-1-0 in 12 career games against San Jose.
Carter Verhaeghe and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Florida, with Stenlund’s goal coming with 1.5 seconds left in the third period.
The Sharks now have just eight goals in six games and an NHL-worst goal differential of -15. Of their first six opponents this season, five made the playoffs last season, including both Stanley Cup finalists in Florida and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Zetterlund’s goal, his second of the season, came at the end of a Sharks power play.
William Eklund took a short pass from Thomas Bordeleau and darted toward the area behind the Panthers’ net. But as he was nearly directly behind Florida goalie Anthony Stolarz, he sent a pass back to Zetterlund for a Sharks power-play goal.
The Panthers quickly responded, though. After a Florida forecheck, Matthew Tkachuk controlled the puck behind the Sharks net and sent a pass in front to a wide-open Verhaeghe, who scored his third of the season past a helpless Blackwood to tie the game 1-1 at the 9:48 mark of the second.
Reinhart’s goal came on a 4 on 3 power play, as Tomas Hertl was called for puck over glass delay of game and Kyle Burroughs was called for tripping just 49 seconds apart. Verhaeghe was called for hooking just four seconds after Burroughs’ penalty started at the 14:52 mark, but with the extra space on the ice with three players in the penalty box, Reinhart was able to score past Blackwood after an Oliver Ekman-Larsson shot on net.
The Sharks’ road trip continues Thursday in Tampa Bay, followed by dates in Carolina on Friday and Washington on Sunday.
NOTE: Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was a healthy scratch Tuesday, just three days after he played just 6:09 of the Sharks’ 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators. It’s the first time Vlasic’s been a healthy scratch since Jan. 4, 2022 when the Sharks played the Detroit Red Wings.
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