Sharks hold players-only meeting after Kings loss

LOS ANGELES -- The San Jose Sharks held a players-only meeting following a 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

"It's unacceptable. It's not good enough. To a man, to a team. It's not on the coaches right now," forward Kiefer Sherwood said. "We're not winning our battles, we're not being hard to play against, we're not making plays, we're just -- it's not good enough. We have to turn it here. We have to stick together here."

The Sharks fell behind early on Wednesday, allowing a breakaway goal from Adrian Kempe just 1:23 into the game. By the time the first period was over, they trailed 3-0.

It was San Jose's third straight loss and its fifth in the past six games.

"We're going to move forward here, and this one obviously (stinks), but no one's feeling sorry for ourselves," Sherwood said. "Until we do something about it, stuff's not going to change. So, we need to do something about it moving forward."

The Sharks (7-9-1) currently sit in sixth place in the Pacific Division. It's a disappointing start after the team made great strides in their rebuild last season, when they went 39-35-8 and finished four points behind the Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

This season, San Jose ranks 28th in the NHL in goals per game (2.53) and is tied for 27th in goals against per game (3.53).

"It's got to change. We can't let it seep into our game, but I mean, we got to be frustrated and not happy with the way we're playing," captain Macklin Celebrini said. "We know what we have in this room, and we believe in each other. We're a team first and foremost."

When asked about what the message was of the players-only meeting, Celebrini said it was private.

"Obviously, things aren’t going well right now, so we got to figure it out," he said.

Sherwood told reporters the team is lacking a strong connection on the ice.

"Just work. When you work, things open up, (the) game slows down a little bit," Sherwood said. "We show bits and spurts of that, and we have a lot of good players, but it's about being a good team right now. I think it's a mindset. It's a maturity that we need to get going here."

Coach Ryan Warsofsky said he appreciated the team's leaders stepping up to try to galvanize the group.

"That's up to them. It shows that we've got some leadership in here, and we're all frustrated," Warsofsky said.

The Sharks will have to channel those frustrations soon, considering their schedule doesn't get any easier in the near future. They will conclude their road trip against the Minnesota Wild on Friday and the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

"We have to look ourselves in the mirror and do something about it," Sherwood said. "(The Kings were) up 6-2, put their top power play out. (Artemi) Panarin's blocking shots, celebrating to his bench. It's disrespectful. Until we do something about it, things aren't going to change unless we man up and do something about it."