Slow Start Costs Sharks, Lose to Ducks 4-2

A slow start cost the San Jose Sharks a 4-2 defeat to the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday Night.

Team Teal fell behind early and faced a 3-0 deficit after the first period.

San Jose struggled to keep possession of the puck consistently. Turnovers were happening left and right, especially at the offensive blueline, causing an odd-man rush the other way.

MacKenzie Blackwood started for San Jose and played the entire game. He finished the game with 21 saves. 

"Tough start, but just better and better as the game went on," Blackwood said postgame. "Just preseason. Getting your feet back in and playing again, and the more time you play, the better you're going to feel. It's part of the process, and [it] got better as it went on."

San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn agreed with Blackwood's assessment.

"[I'm] just looking for his intentions and where he is. A lot of the time, I don't even look at the goal," Quinn said. "I look at his positioning, his alertness, his athleticism, his anticipation, and if he's doing all those things, they're going to go in every now and then. I thought he was pretty good and all those areas tonight."

Blackwood faced a lot of traffic in front during the first period. Ducks defenseman and top prospect Olen Zellweger used that to his advantage.

Zellweger finished the game with two points (one goal, one assist) and was the game's first star.

Sharks' top prospect, William Eklund, got the Sharks on the board with a powerplay goal in the second period. 

He displayed a terrific one-time shot, something he did a lot while with the AHL's San Jose Barracuda last season.

"I think that's how the game was today," Eklund said about the slow start. "It was a little bit choppier out there. We just dumped the puck in a lot. The whole team on the powerplay felt the puck more."

Marc-Edouard Vlasic finished off a two-on-one with a great shot, beating former teammate Alex Stalock to the blocker side.

"It's always nice to score, doesn't matter who it is," Vlasic said. "Hopefully, I can now score in the regular season because preseason, they don't count."

Mikael Granlund was supposed to play in tonight's matchup but was held out for precautionary reasons.

Kevin Labanc skated well this evening, and Coach Quinn noticed.

"I definitely noticed the fact that he was getting into people," Quinn said. "He got on the inside. There were some positives from his game for sure."

The San Jose Sharks will try for redemption tomorrow night as they fly down to Anaheim for their third preseason game. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. and can be streamed via the Sharks Audio Network.