The scene was all too familiar for the San Jose Sharks: a postgame handshake line on their home ice with the other team celebrating a series win while the Sharks wonder what might have been.
A team that seemed to have the ingredients necessary for a long playoff run went out instead in the second round with a 3-0 loss Sunday in Game 6 against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
”For periods of this series I thought we were a better team
Jason McCourty Jersey Patriots , I thought we played the game that we know we’re capable of, we showed we could beat them,” forward Logan Couture said. ”We just didn’t do it long enough.”
That’s what perhaps makes this the most bitter playoff loss in coach Peter DeBoer’s three seasons in San Jose, all of which ended with home playoff losses.
In 2016, the Sharks got over a major hump and made it to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history before losing in six games to a more talented Pittsburgh team.
Last year, San Jose sputtered toward the finish of the season and lost in six games to Edmonton in the first round in large part due to injuries that hampered top two centers Couture and Joe Thornton.
But the Sharks were healthier this year despite Thornton’s absence because of a knee injury. Midseason acquisitions Evander Kane and Eric Fehr had San Jose surging following a first-round sweep against Anaheim.
They came out flat in the opener against Vegas and lost 7-0 and then dropped a key overtime contest at home in Game 3, playing much of the series from behind. The biggest difference was the performance of the top lines with Vegas’ trio of William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith combining for eight goals and 17 assists, while Kane, Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi had just three goals and two assists for the Sharks.
”We definitely would’ve liked to have been a little bit more productive,” Pavelski said. ”It’s hard to say. We’ll have to take a look at it, figure it out. We had some looks, we had some chances, we didn’t capitalize when we did. I wish I had an answer. We sure should’ve been a little better.”
Here are some other takeaways from the season and things to watch this summer:
JUMBO JOE
Thornton injured his right knee on Jan. 23 and never was able to make it back into the lineup. He practiced all postseason and even took part in all the pregame skates but never felt quite healthy enough to get back into the lineup. The 38-year-old Thornton is now eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, leaving his future in San Jose in doubt. He still can be productive as evidenced by his 13 goals and 23 assists in 47 games. But after significant knee injuries the past two seasons, there are questions about whether he will be able to keep up in the faster paced game.
KANE’S CALL
The move to acquire Kane from Buffalo at the trade deadline provided a major spark. He had nine goals and five assists in 17 games, providing needed speed and physicality on San Jose’s top line. That carried over to the first round when he had three goals and an assists in a sweep against Anaheim but Kane wasn’t nearly as effective against Vegas as he played through injuries. Now the Sharks have a decision to make whether to keep Kane or let him leave as a free agent. If he signs
Bears Elite Jerseys , they owe Buffalo a first-round pick in 2019. If he leaves, that pick becomes a second-rounder.
”Obviously I enjoy winning and coming here was a great opportunity for me to do that,” Kane said. ”I really, really, really enjoyed my time with this group of guys, and loved going to battle with these guys.”
STEPPING UP
The best development for the Sharks this season was the development of some younger players. Tomas Hertl looks like he could be a dominant power forward, Chris Tierney and Kevin Labanc are able playmakers, Timo Meier scored 21 goals at age 21, and Joakim Ryan is an ideal defensive partner for Brent Burns. Those players will be counted on to do even more in the future as the Sharks transition from players like Thornton, Pavelski and the departed Patrick Marleau to a new generation.
CAP ROOM
The Sharks head into the offseason with projected salary cap room of more than $15 million. While some of that could be used up by keeping Thornton or Kane, GM Doug Wilson also could use that money to target a top free agent like John Tavares of the New York Islanders. Wilson has been planning for that flexibility for years and now the question becomes how he will use it.
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The Los Angeles Chargers could have declared this NFL draft to be a victory after they got Derwin James in a widely perceived steal in the first round.
They still spent the next two days adding a diverse collection of talent on both sides of the ball to make a solid roster even better.
Two days after the Florida State safety unexpectedly fell to the Chargers with the 17th overall pick, Los Angeles grabbed West Virginia safety Kyzir White in the fourth round Saturday with plans to turn him into a linebacker.
The Chargers then drafted UCLA center Scott Quessenberry, a lifelong Chargers fan from the San Diego suburbs. With their final picks, they landed Texas Tech receiver Dylan Cantrell and prolific Northwestern running back Justin Jackson.
”I thought we got good individuals,” coach Anthony Lynn said. ”They all have great personalities, backgrounds, good intangibles
Byron Jones Jersey , but they’re good football players as well.”
Los Angeles chose defensive players with its first four picks, bolstering a unit that allowed fewer points than all but two teams last season. The Chargers’ final three picks were used on offensive players, and all three appear to have a legitimate shot to make the roster of a unit that finished fourth in the NFL with 376.6 yards per game last season.
The Chargers’ second- and third-round picks arrived in Costa Mesa on Saturday – and one of them drove there. USC linebacker Uchenna Nwosu’s family lives in Carson, the suburban Los Angeles town where the Chargers play their home games at StubHub Center for the next two seasons.
”This being my city, any questions guys have, they can come to me,” Nwosu said. ”Where to go for good food, sightseeing or anything, I’ve already got those ideas in my head.”
Here are more things to know about the Chargers’ draft:
SWITCH IT UP
White is a big, versatile talent who had 94 tackles and three interceptions last year. The Chargers will move him to linebacker to fill an area of need, and White welcomed the switch.
”I’ve never played it before, but I can adjust to anything,” White said. ”I think it would be a good situation. I’m always up for a challenge.”
Chargers general manager Tom Telesco believes White has several qualities necessary to move from safety in college to weak-side linebacker in the NFL. That’s a switch that came up frequently when Telesco’s former team, Indianapolis, looked to draft players for its Tampa 2 defense.
”Part of it is a mentality, and he has that mentality to come up and hit and do all the dirty work up at the line of scrimmage,” Telesco said.
White is the younger brother of receiver Kevin White
Tracy Walker Jersey Elite , the seventh overall pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2015 draft. Kevin White has played in only five games in his three NFL seasons due to numerous injuries.
PRODUCTIVE PICK
Jackson is the 11th-leading rusher in NCAA FBS history after racking up 5,440 yards during his four seasons with the Wildcats. Telesco and Lynn cited Jackson’s steady production, including four 1,000-yard seasons, as a primary reason to acquire him.
”Sometimes the measurables – height, weight, speed – sometimes that doesn’t add up,” said Lynn, a former running backs coach. ”There’s one thing, to me, that’s hard to measure, and that’s a young man’s heart. And he has shown heart every year he’s been at Northwestern, and his production shows that.”
RED RAIDERS
Lynn, a Texas Tech product, was thrilled to grab Cantrell in the sixth round. And shortly after the draft ended, Texas Tech announced that the Chargers had signed quarterback Nic Shimonek as an undrafted free agent.
NO QB
After months of speculation, the Chargers did not draft a quarterback and potential heir to Philip Rivers. Los Angeles apparently will have newcomer Geno Smith
Youth Dallas Cowboys Jerseys , Cardale Jones and Shimonek behind center in the offseason program. The 36-year-old Rivers has started every game since 2006, and Telesco repeatedly said the Chargers are in no hurry to groom his successor. The Bolts haven’t drafted a quarterback since 2013.
SO FRESH, SO CLEAN
Jones, who flew cross-country from Atlanta on Saturday morning, related the humorous circumstances around his selection. He didn’t expect to be drafted until Saturday, so he went bowling with his girlfriend and other friends Friday.
”I was bowling mad hard, and my girl was like, `Yeah, you ain’t smelling the best,”’ Jones said. ”So I go take a shower, and I’ve got the suds going on.”
That’s when the Chargers called. He struggled to answer his iPhone with wet fingers while running up and down and up the stairs after forgetting to put on pants. When he finally got dressed and down into the living room, he was with his mother when his name was called.
STILL NEED
The Chargers are still looking for a kickoff returner who can do better than last season’s unimpressive group, although Jackson returned kicks early in his college career. Los Angeles didn’t draft an heir apparent at right tackle. The Bolts would still like more depth on the defensive line. But they clearly feel comfortable about the overall makeup of their roster.
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