Sharks’ Quinn on gut-wrenching losses: ‘Nobody’s had a more hurtful season than us’
The San Jose Sharks lead the NHL in overtime and shootout losses, and, according to coach David Quinn, heartache.
The Sharks on Saturday morning were still smarting from their 5-4 overtime loss to Carolina the night before, one where the Hurricanes scored twice in the final 1:37 of the third period to tie the game.
Martin Necas then scored 55 seconds into overtime, handing the Sharks their fourth straight loss on a five-game road trip that concludes Saturday night in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.
“Today was a tough day,” Quinn said Saturday morning. “We all felt like crap last night, probably as painful a loss as it was all year, which is saying something.”
The Sharks are 3-11 in games that have gone into overtime. Of the 21 games they’ve played this season that have been decided by one goal, the Sharks have won just five of them.
Perhaps there are no bigger reasons why they entered Saturday 13th in the Western Conference and 28th in the NHL at 14-25-11.
The Sharks might have had modest expectations coming into this season, but few could have predicted that they would have just 11 regulation-time wins in their first 50 games.
“No one’s been knocked down more than we have this year and nobody’s had a more hurtful season than we have,” Quinn said. “I know there are some teams with worse records but I don’t think anybody’s hurt the way we have because of the way we’ve lost games and the season we’ve had.
“I feel bad for our players. They put a lot into it and we just haven’t got the results we needed. As we’ve touched on over and over again, when you think you’ve seen it all, we find a different way to lose.”
Quinn said a few Sharks players are under the weather and wasn’t 100 percent sure what the lineup would look like Saturday. The Penguins are 5-2-3 in their last 10 games and entered the day holding the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen will make his second start in the last seven games. Kahkonen allowed four goals on 28 shots in the Sharks’ 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 21 to start the road trip that continued with losses to Boston and Detroit before Friday’s game in Carolina.
This will be Kahkonen’s first career start against the Penguins. Casey DeSmith, Saturday’s starter for Pittsburgh, has a 1-2-0 record, a 3.72 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage in three career games against San Jose.
REUNION GAME: Quinn will coach Saturday against good friend Mike Sullivan, now in his eighth season coaching the Penguins. The two used to be roommates and teammates at Boston University.
“Quinny is a real hard-working hockey guy. He’s come up through the ranks the hard way,” Sullivan said Saturday. “He’s honed his craft at so many different levels, he’s learned through every experience that he’s gone through and he brings a certain humility to his job every day. That makes him the coach that he is
“I think he brings a certain combination of personal skills, his ability to connect with players and communicate with players that I think is a strength of his with just the tactical aspect of the game. He’s a student of the game. He works extremely hard at it.
“He’s one of those guys that just has an insatiable appetite to grow and learn more about the sport and that’s what I’ve always admired about him. He’s a real good coach, and he’s a terrific person.”