The San Jose Sharks have been on the road for all of December except for one game, and it is showing,

The San Jose Sharks have been on the road for all of December except for one game, and it is showing,

The team departed for Boston on November 29 and did not return until December 10. They faced the Winnipeg Jets at home on December 11 and then went right back on the road. 

San Jose is the sixth youngest team in the NHL. Their average age is 26.67 years old. 

While their play is improving despite winning or losing, there has been a trend in answers during postgame interviews and against the Arizona Coyotes. Head coach David Quinn chalked up the slow start to lack of energy.

"It's one of those nights where you don't have all your energy, and you can just feel there wasn't a lot of energy in the locker room before the game," Quinn said. "I think it's another example of our progress because I think a month ago, if we had this type of energy, we wouldn't have been in this situation at the end of the game. It's disappointing."

Tomas Hertl and Mikael Granlund have led the charge for Team Teal over the last month. William Eklund has started to play better as well. 

However, some of the significant early-season contributors are slowing down. Fabian Zetterlund has two goals in his last nine games. Kyle Burroughs hasn't been bad, but his on-ice play isn't nearly as effective.

When looking at both players, neither have played an entire 82-game season in their careers.

Burroughs played a career-high 48 games for the Vancouver Canucks last season. He's already at 30 this year while averaging a career-high 19:18 TOI. His time-on-ice average this year is 1:57 more than the previous year. 

Zetterlund's career-high 62 games in the NHL was last season. The difference is that Zetterlund plays 4:02 more than last year with the San Jose Sharks and 4:57 more than while he was with the New Jersey Devils.

Zetterlund is also playing on the top powerplay unit and has become a key contributor to the penalty kill.

A lot of travel, mixed with increased roles and responsibilities, has put a lot of pressure on Zetterlund and Burroughs.

They aren't alone. Jack Sudnicka made his Sharks debut last night and said he wasn't where he wanted to be with his energy level.

"Didn't really have my legs. It's kind of been a whirlwind. It's no excuse. But it's been a lot of travel recently," Studnicka said postgame. 

Due to injury, San Jose has been forced to move players around into larger roles than expected. Nico Sturm is a huge loss because of his position and his skating ability.

Alexander Barabanov missed extended time. Logan Couture has missed the entire season so far. Calen Addison went down with a lower-body injury in last night's game. The list goes on and on.

Despite the recent struggles, San Jose has managed the game better. 

"We're able to manage a game we didn't have our energy," Quinn said after the Coyotes game. "[We're] disappointed but not going to let it get in the way of our next game."

San Jose will have the next five days at home before returning to the road.

Make sure you bookmark THN's San Jose Sharks site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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