The San Jose Sharks did not get off to the start they were hoping for this season. The team returns home from the Prague Global Series with two consecutive defeats against the Nashville Predators. Although the team held out better in Saturday’s match, in the end they had to be defeated by 2-3.
The trip to the Czech Republic, on the other hand, was an experience that the players will carry with them for many years to come, but after two consecutive defeats, San Jose has a job to do when the team returns home.
– I think we deserved to win. It hurts, but we need to make sure we learn what we could do better to ensure victory. It sucks. It hurts more now than yesterday’s game because I think we played better, but it’s an 82-game season. There is still a lot of hockey to play, so we can’t be too frustrated but learn from it and move on, “said the Sharks. Mario Ferraro up to NHL.com/sv
After losing the opening match to Predators 1-4, both players and Sharks executives spoke about the need for the team to be more effective in the offensive zone, especially in games with a numerical advantage. At first it looked promising. The Sharks have taken the lead in the power play Luca Kunin at the end of the first period.
The Predators are back thanks to goals from Nino Niederreiterbut only ten seconds later San Jose had regained the lead after the team captain Logan Couture scored his first goal of the season. However, the Predators managed to overturn the game after the goals from Philip Forsberghis first of the season, and another from the Niederreiter club.
– I think the third period was our best, Sharks manager David Quinn tells NHL.com/sv. I think there was a huge difference in the third period compared to what we saw last night. We stayed away from the ejection booth and lay down on it.
– It’s disappointing, because I think we shot ourselves in the foot. We were leading 2-1 and we win a draw in the defensive zone, but we lose the puck after not getting it out as we should have and it ends up in our goal. Then we didn’t have our heads down at the end of the power play and they scored. But there are two things that I think we will correct as we move forward and make sure we win games. I really enjoyed our game tonight and I think it was a big improvement over last night. What we need to focus on is improving ourselves step by step.
Video: Niederreiter, Couture natar i andra
The Sharks made their first appearance in the NHL Global Series which means that all three California NHL teams have now played on European soil while the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings played in Europe in both 2007 and 2011. For the attacking Sharks Thomas Hertl and the hill Simek work it was the NHL Global Series even more special, as they both hail from the Czech Republic. Hertl, born and raised in Prague, scored a goal in the first game to applause from the audience.
– This has been a special weekend for both of our Czech players, says Quinn. I think it was emotionally exhausting, but they handled it well. As much as we came here to show it to the fans, we came here to score and unfortunately we didn’t, but there is still a long way to go … We will work on what we have done tonight.
– This was absolutely amazing to me, Simek tells NHL.com/sv. I have family and friends here and it’s always fun to play at home, especially NHL games.
Quinn saw the Predators as a good test for his men, praising the opponents after the final whistle of the second game.
– It’s a great hockey team, says Quinn of Nashville. They made the playoffs last year and made a couple of big additions over the summer and are extremely well trained. (John) Hynes is doing a great job. They are a team that fought in the playoffs and looked mid-season.
– I’m proud of the boys. I think we fought hard and cleaned up a lot of the things we didn’t do well yesterday. Now let’s go home and take a couple of days off and rest, then it’s just a matter of driving.
The Sharks’ next game is on Saturday night, Swedish time, when the Carolina Hurricanes visit the SAP Center.
