Sharks seek answers after seven-goal loss to Golden Knights in Game 1

LAS VEGAS --San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski stated what was painfully obvious shortly after they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 7-0 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
"You start chasing the game and it gets tough," Pavelski said. "Good thing is, they don't give extra points for winning by seven."

The Sharks, who allowed four goals in the first round against the Anaheim Ducks, gave up four goals in the first period against the Golden Knights.
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It was the Sharks' worst Stanley Cup Playoff defeat since May 11, 1995, when they lost 9-2 to the Calgary Flames in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
"I would hope we're not going to lose every game 7-0 in the second round of the playoffs," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "I don't think the gap is what the scoreboard said tonight. I think we're all smart enough to know that."
San Jose goaltender Martin Jones, superb in the four-game sweep against the Ducks, had little help in Game 1 against the Golden Knights, giving up four goals in the first 11:43.

Jones, who made eight saves, was replaced by backup Aaron Dell at 3:28 of the second period after Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore made it 5-0. Jones allowed four goals on 132 shots in the first round.
"Sometimes you need a save just to settle things down," Jones said. "Just didn't come up with it tonight."
DeBoer was asked if he considered making a change after the first period.
"We haven't played in a week," DeBoer said. "I didn't want him coming out. He needs some action. He couldn't do much on those goals. That was on us, as a group. It wasn't on him.
"I wanted to give him enough time where he could feel ready for [Game 2] Saturday, but at the same time not have to stand in there and get embarrassed."

What happened to the Sharks is exactly what they inflicted on the Ducks 10 days ago in Game 3 at San Jose. They won by seven goals (8-1) and watched the Ducks lose their collective cool with a series of undisciplined penalties in the third period.
On Thursday, the Sharks lost their composure, and forward Evander Kane received a five-minute major and an automatic game misconduct at 3:25 of the third period for cross-checking Golden Knights forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
"I'm not a dirty player by any means," Kane said. "Obviously it was unfortunate. Just went into a scrum and kind of just cross-checked him there in the arm, as you saw there. Unfortunately, it kind of rode up the second time [to his face] when he extended his arm there.
"Obviously there was no intent and glad he wasn't hurt on the play and it was good to see him back on the ice. Don't want to put my team in that situation and we'll put this one behind us and look forward to the next game."
This is the first time the Sharks have faced playoff adversity in 2018, and they don't have a lot of time to figure out what went wrong. Or how to prevent it from happening in Game 2.
"There's no doubt turnovers were an issue," DeBoer said. "We had a laundry list of issues tonight."