The San Jose Sharks were once the talk of the National Hockey League for winning seven consecutive games to begin the 2013 regular season.
That chatter has been replaced. On Monday, the Sharks lost their fifth consecutive game - two of those coming by way of the shootout. The Columbus Blue Jackets temporarily worked their way out of the Western Conference basement with a 6-2 win over the Sharks.
On this night, the Sharks were “outworked, out-executed, out-detailed, out-goaltended, out- a lot of things,” head coach Todd McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News.
Added Joe Thornton: “This one’s tough...You always want to get the first one on back-to-back nights. You always want to get the first one going into a road trip. We’ve got to regroup and play well tomorrow.”
The Sharks are one game into a six-game road trip. They are in Nashville to face the Predators Tuesday.
Brandon Dubinsky, who went to Columbus as part of the post-season blockbuster trade that brought Rick Nash to the New York Rangers, finally scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket.
“We all played the right way for 60 minutes,” Dubinsky told NHL.com. “You saw the result that should happen when we play that way.”