Predators score eight goals, shut out Sharks

SAN JOSE --Michael McCarron had two goals and two assists, and Juuse Saros made 20 saves for the Nashville Predators in an 8-0 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

"Regardless of the score, I think the process of the game was good," Predators coach John Hynes said. "We were harder on pucks, we got to the scoring areas, (and) we found ways to be able to put the puck in the net."
Matt Luff had two goals and an assist, Matt Duchene scored twice, and Roman Josi had four assists for Nashville (31-20-4), which had lost two in a row.
"That's a great bounce back for the team (following a 4-3 loss at the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday)," Luff said. "We [took] that off day and kind of looked in the mirror and just realized it's not a way to make the playoffs, and we want to be a playoff team at the end of the day. Look at that 60 minutes (tonight), and that's a pretty solid game we had."

The Sharks (24-25-6) have lost two straight and are 2-6-4 in their past 12 games.
"We're embarrassed. You lose by that large of a margin, no one's feeling good about themselves," San Jose captain Logan Couture said. "We had a good talk in the room after the game. It's pretty evident that's not good enough."
Alex Stalock, who was acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, was pulled after allowing six goals on 28 shots in his first NHL game since Aug. 7, 2020. Zach Sawchenko made six saves in relief.
Stalock did not play last season because of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, which he was diagnosed with after contracting COVID-19 in November 2020.
"Obviously, it was very exciting after going through the stuff medically," Stalock said. "It was a great opportunity. Obviously, it would have been much nicer [to have] a better result."
McCarron put Nashville ahead 1-0 at 10:43 of the first period. Philip Tomasino, who had three assists, passed from behind the net to McCarron for a quick shot that went under the left pad of Stalock.
"[The Sharks] are so good at protecting the puck, especially along the boards and getting to the net, so I just tried to get open and maybe feed them in front," Tomasino said. "Our first goal today was kind of that exact same thing. McCarron kind of chipped out to me and I kind of fed it back to him. He obviously had a nice shot there. I think the biggest thing for us is just trying to get pucks to the net."

Duchene made it 2-0 at 18:30 with a shot through traffic from the blue line that deflected off the left post.
Luff increased the lead to 3-0 at 2:43 of the second period when Josi's point shot deflected off him short side.
"I think, regardless of the score, at 3-0 I thought we're actually playing a pretty competitive game," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "We were playing pretty hard. We only gave up two chances in the first period and we only generated one, so it was pretty even in the first period regardless of the shot clock. … Once it [became] 4-0, we got away from our game and you start pressing and things start going in, and that's a snowball you can't stop."
Luff scored his second of the period to make it 4-0 at 19:30. Stalock saved two shots from point-blank range, but after Tomasino's attempt was blocked by Nicolas Meloche in the crease, Luff got the loose puck and shot into an open net.
"That fourth goal seemed to break us and it went from there," San Jose forward Nick Bonino said.
Duchene pushed it to 5-0 at 4:43 of the third period before McCarron redirected a centering pass to chase Stalock and make it 6-0 at 6:07.
Yakov Trenin made it 7-0 at 11:13 following a turnover by Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Mikael Granlund scored a power-play goal at 13:06 for the 8-0 final.
"This is a teachable tape for sure," Boughner said. "The good part is, we're going back to work tomorrow. We've got to put that one behind us and play an [Anaheim Ducks] team that is desperate."
NOTES: The Predators scored at least eight goals in game for the eighth time, the first since Dec. 17, 2019 (8-3 at the New York Islanders). Nashville has scored nine goals three times. ... It was Josi's second NHL game with four assists. He had five on Feb. 27, 2018 against the Winnipeg Jets.