Frustrations boil over Sharks blasted by Kraken on Fan Appreciation night

SAN JOSE The last-place San Jose Sharks have been trying to keep a positive outlook this season Even though the playoffs have been out of reach for months they feel they still have plenty to play for individually and as a group But make no mistake this year has been an absolute grind for all involved I keep telling myself you look back hopefully in a year or two and we re almost going to be glad we went through it and got a lot of experience from it Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky disclosed And I think I ll reflect more when that nd encounter is over The Sharks played their th event on Saturday and lost for the th time as they allowed five goals on the first shots they faced in a - loss to the Seattle Kraken before an disclosed sellout crowd on Fan Appreciation Night The Sharks trailed - after the first period before the contest went off the rails as Chandler Stephenson Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann all scored in a span of to help hand San Jose its fifth straight loss Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev playing in his th NHL encounter allowed four goals on the first shots he faced and was pulled after Schwartz scored his th of the season at the mark of the second to give Seattle a - lead San Jose s frustrations boiled over as Sharks winger William Eklund dropped the gloves with Kraken winger Eeli Tolvanen with seconds left in regulation The scrap elicited one of the biggest cheers of the night Will Smith scored the only goal for the Sharks who are now - - at home this season San Jose has two more home games this season on Monday against the Calgary Flames and on April against the Edmonton Oilers in the season finale The Sharks lost their first nine games of the season in October but battled to go - - over the following five weeks raising their record to - - after a - overtime win over the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals on Dec But the season took a turn on Dec when the Sharks traded No goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to the Colorado Avalanche The Sharks lost nine of their next games and entering Saturday had an NHL-worst record of - - The future might be teal as the group s slogan goes but it has often felt like a long way away It is extremely formidable Warsofsky mentioned before Saturday s event I m going to be honest with you it s been a challenge and it s something that I ve learned going through this I know this is in a different light as a head coach but when you re out of the playoffs it s tough this time of year in the National Hockey League You lean on your coaches your staff Warsofsky added later Obviously we re all in this together the players the coaches the organization from top to bottom We re in this together The Sharks allowed even strength goals to Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky in the first of the opening period before Smith scored his th goal of the season at the mark Macklin Celebrini took a pass from Jack Thompson along the boards and fed Tyler Toffoli near the slot Toffoli then put a shot on net that Kraken goalie Joey Daccord stopped but Smith was there to direct the puck into the net to snap an eight-game goal drought One positive for the Sharks at least in the big picture is that with Saturday s loss they can finish the season no higher than st in the NHL s overall standings With points and six games left San Jose now cannot finish ahead of the Nashville Predators who have points and regulation time wins the first tie-breaker The Sharks have just regulation time wins We ve got to play for our fans We ve got to play for this organization the people that have supported us through specific really tough times here the last scarce years Warsofsky stated Yeah we see the light at the end of the tunnel