Prague — When the San Jose Sharks hopped on a plane to Berlin and then Prague for the 2022 NHL Global Series, many of them barely knew each other. They set off with a new general manager, new front office, new coach, new staff, a bunch of new players, and a new system that they still have to learn.
They held their first full-team practice at Berlin’s Wellblechpalast and played their first NHL game together against the Nashville Predators at the O2 Arena in Prague on Friday and Saturday. they lost both Eliminated 3-2 on Saturday After losing 4-1 on Friday.
It’s a picture of a team that’s not yet fully formed, and the team is still learning what it is and what it is.
“We got a lot of new works,” said positively Luke Kunin, himself no stranger to sharks after spending the previous two seasons with the Predators. “I think we’re playing hard. We played a lot better tonight than we did last night. We didn’t do enough tonight, but I think we did a lot of good things to give ourselves a chance to win.”
So the results were difficult, but also understandable.
“We came here to get points and wins, just like we came here to play in front of the fans,” said Sharks manager David Quinn. But there’s a long way to go and I like a lot of what I’ve seen from our team.
“As the season progresses and you lose games, you get to know a little more about your team. That’s what we do. We’ve got a lot of new features in our group and what we’ve been doing We’re going to build on that tonight.”
The Sharks took the lead twice in Saturday’s game, going 1-0 with a Knin goal at 14:24 in the first period and 2-1 at 14:24 in the first period. logan coutureIt’s 4:45 in the second.However Philip Forsberg The score was tied at 6:29 in the second round, Nino Niederreiter After coming out of the penalty box at 12:13 of the second period, they scored the second moment of the game and provided the advantage.
“I think we deserved to win that game,” said the defense Mario Ferraro Said. “it hurts.”
Ultimately, I hope this expedition will pay off. The hope is that the sharks will get to know each other better, understand each other better, navigate cobbled streets on scooters, learn to pour Czech beer, and eat unfamiliar foods.
Players who didn’t know each other a month ago became teammates, and their performance improved as they learned to play together. heart,” said Ferraro.
that is hope.
[RELATED: Complete coverage of 2022 NHL Global Series, Czech Republic]
For now, the Sharks were happy to see progress from the first game of the regular season to the second, from one night to the next.
“I really liked tonight’s game,” Quinn said. “I thought it was a big improvement from last night and that’s what we need to focus on getting better over time. Winning and losing will resolve itself. I’m proud, I thought we competed hard.
They played their best in Saturday’s third period, nearly leveling on multiple points, including a good chance by Ferraro with 3:54 remaining, and left Prague on the best hockey note of the trip.
“It’s a great contrast to what we saw last night,” said Quinn.
The Sharks’ current plan was to return to San Jose to rest and recover from an unusual week where they were able to meet with their Czech teammates. Thomas Hertl defense man Radim Simek — Loved and admired by fans at the O2 Arena, but there was a week when the standings were empty.
And the road ahead is not so easy. After back-to-back games against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Chicago Blackhawks next Friday and Saturday, the Sharks hop on another plane and fly to New York in October, including Quinn reuniting with the Rangers. His 4 game road trip. 20 — New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
But over the next five days off, the Sharks will have more practice, more visiting time, and an opportunity to learn exactly what Quinn wants and how close they can get to that ideal. I know that
“It was a lot of fun. It was a cool experience,” Kunin said. “Obviously we have two big games. We are clearly not happy with the result. We can build on this. We have 80 games left.”
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