Toronto – Ryan Warsofsky could feel a deflated cloakroom.
The recruit coach of San Jose Sharks Sharks had a simple message for his young eraser team of two periods.
The last visitors – leading a slide from eight games entering Monday and without victory since January 27 – were down 2-0 to the Maple Leafs in Toronto, a competitor with five consecutive victories and designs during a long race of eliminatory series this spring.
There were many relatives in the stands to encourage a list of sharks dotted with players from the region. Warsofsky did his best to shake the group.
“We were on ourselves,” said the youngest boss of the NHL bench at 37. “I just reminded them that there are eight guys who have a lot of family and friends here to look at you – they came to watch 60 minutes, not 40.
“My last message was that it will be a hell of a story.”
During a season without many happy tales for a franchise in complete reconstruction mode, the Sharks wrote one that they will remember for a while after having retaliated with two goals in the third period before Fabian Zetterlund has buried the winner of Shootout to ensure an unlikely victory.
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“He felt good,” said Warsofsky. “We needed that one. We played very good hockey and we were not rewarded for this. »»
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The Sharks entered 2-14-3 during their 19 previous games and improved at 16-37-9 with the fifth club victory in 2025.
“We are not far away,” said striker Alexander Wennberg, who collected two passes. “We really have something to build here.”
San Jose Jose Jack Thompson defender, a courtyard product in Ontario, scored at the start of the third to reduce the deficit by half for a group with a pair of talented attackers and fascinated by Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith fishing.
“We have the impression that we are in these matches,” said Thompson, 22. “We continue to fight. We have a large group of guys here who like to play with each other. It showed this evening.
San Jose lost 2-1 in overtime against the Winnipeg jets on February 24 before undergoing a 4-3 defeat against Montreal Canadians on Thursday and a 5-3 setback against the Ottawa senators on Saturday as a road trip of seven games that ends Tuesday in Buffalo against the Sabers.
“We have a lot of talent here,” said Tyler Toffoli, a veteran winger from Toronto, who equaled the game in regulation and scored in the third round of the shooting to maintain his life team. “There is never a gift. Even if we don’t have a good night, we will come back and continue to fight. »»
Warsofsky knows that a victory does not make a season – or a reconstruction. But his sharks showed something in Scotiabank Arena.
“We are not in a race in the playoff series, but we are never going to abandon,” he said. “We will continue to play. We will continue to compete. Our guys really start to join how we have to play. It is a simple brand of hockey. This is generally what wins in this league.
“They are starting to understand this.”
Failed opportunity
The Leafs (38-20-3) failed to obtain the maximum number of points against the worst team of the League while they continue to fight for the first in the Atlantic division despite a complete two-minute power game.
“Any loss is disappointing,” said head coach Craig Berube. “We are in a good place to close it and we have not done the job.”
Happy paths
Toronto finished a perfect road trip of four games entering Monday and is now going back for three other dates outside starting Wednesday against the Golden Knights in Vegas.
When taking into account the breakdown of the 4 nations, the Leafs will have played two home competitions in just over six weeks on March 13 against the Florida panthers.
“You can make all the excuses you want,” said Berube. “It’s the calendar and you just have to be mentally difficult.”
This Canadian press report was published for the first time on March 3, 2025.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
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