The San Jose Sharks will look to play better in front of their goaltender when they return home to host the New York Rangers on Friday night.
San Jose split a pair of games in Florida, topping the Panthers 4-1 on Monday before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Lightning on Tuesday, to wrap up a four-game road trip.
“We didn’t win enough pucks in all three zones, especially the offensive zone,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of the loss to Tampa Bay. “We did some good things in that first period. We had a good road period, but we handed them one there at the end of the first. The second, we weren’t great, and the third, we kind of ran out of gas.”
Tyler Toffoli scored and Yaroslav Askarov made 16 saves for the Sharks, who are 8-4-0 over their last 12 games.
“Our mistakes turned into goals-against, and we relied on Askarov a lot,” Toffoli said. “Can’t expect him to make the saves that he was forced to make (against the Lightning). That’s on us.”
San Jose, tied for fourth in the Pacific Division and two games out of a playoff spot, is 13-9-3 on home ice.
Friday is a lone stop at home for the Sharks before they return to the road for a five-game trip prior to the break for the Winter Olympics.
“A lot of our young guys need to learn it’s an every-day league,” Warsofsky said. “The schedule and people don’t feel bad for you. You got to show up, and you got to work and be a pro. We’re not going to use the schedule as an excuse, but you have to do it every single day.”
Star center Macklin Celebrini was held without a point in both games in Florida, going consecutive games without a point for just the second time this season.
Celebrini, who paces the Sharks with 24 goals, entered Thursday’s action third in the league in assists (48) and fourth in points (72).
Friday’s game is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs.
Celebrini scored a hat trick and added two assists while Will Smith had two goals and two assists, including the overtime winner, as the Sharks edged the Rangers 6-5 on Oct. 23 for their first win of the season after starting 0-4-2.
Adam Gaudette also scored, and William Eklund added three helpers for San Jose.
New York travels to San Jose for the conclusion of a four-game road trip.
The Rangers dropped back-to-back contests in Southern California on Monday and Tuesday, losing 5-3 to the Anaheim Ducks before being edged 4-3 by the Los Angeles Kings.
J.T. Miller scored twice, and Mika Zibanejad extended his point streak to 10 games with an assist in the loss to the Kings.
Jonathan Quick made 23 saves for the Rangers, who are last in the Eastern Conference.
New York has lost 10 of 12 (2-8-2) but has been much better on the road this season (16-11-2) than at home.
“It was a pretty hard-fought game,” Miller said. “We just had a couple mistakes that cost us.
“We had a lot of good chances, didn’t give in. Didn’t go our way (in Los Angeles), but it’s not all bad.”
–Field Level Media
