Sharks KO'd by Stars, Give Up Eight Goals in Embarrassing Loss

The Sharks lost the game, but whether or not they lost the trade is yet to be determined.

San Jose suffered a predictable 8-3 loss to Dallas on Saturday night at SAP Center after initially jumping out to a 2-0 lead.

Two quick goals from Fabian Zetterlund and William Eklund were answered by three consecutive Dallas goals from Matt Duchene, Mason Marchment, and Jason Robertson, giving the Stars a 3-2 lead heading into the first intermission.

Things continued to snowball from there as Dallas added two more goals in the second period, while the San Jose offense continued to stall out. Shots on goal became increasingly rare for the home team. The contest slipped further out of reach for the Sharks as the Stars added three more goals in the third period. With seven unanswered goals, the only silver lining was San Jose's late goal, which gave the crowd free tacos from Taco Bell.

"We can't be happy. I mean, anytime you lose and give up eight goals, you're going to lose," said a visibly frustrated Macklin Celebrini. "It's not on V (goalie Vitek Vaněček). I thought he made some amazing saves for us. It's on us. We've just got to be better."

It's never a good night when the home fans' only reason to cheer in the third period is the prospect of a voucher for free fast food. But another blowout loss to a Stanley Cup-contending team shouldn't alter anyone's perception of what this team is. The Sharks made the prudent decision to trade Cody Ceci and Mikael Granlund for draft picks as the team continues to rebuild.

Stars captain Jamie Benn said it felt good to get the win for his two newest teammates.

"It's a pretty quick turnaround from the trade to play your old team, and it was nice to get that win for them," Benn said.

In return for veteran defenseman Ceci and forward Granlund, a now slightly weaker San Jose squad looked like it lacked depth on the blue line and appeared to be missing another playmaking forward to provide that extra offensive punch. This is to be expected, much like you'd experience more pain immediately after surgery than you did before the operation.

The young team isn't just experiencing growing pains; they're dealing with the discomfort of being gutted for parts as the trade deadline looms.

With so many teams sending scouts to check out the action between the Sharks and Canucks on Thursday night, it seems other teams around the league might be looking to strip this car down for even more parts.

Should the Sharks organization be concerned if Granlund picked up two points in his first game back at the Tank? If this year's slogan, "The Future is Teal," is to be taken to heart, then there's little reason to be disheartened by the loss.

Hopefully, Sharks General Manager Mike Grier's vision of the future arrives before we get flying cars and robot maids like the Jetsons, but reasons for optimism aren't hard to find.

Earlier in the day, the Barracuda won their matinee game 5-3 against the Tucson Roadrunners. 2020 second-round draft pick Thomas Bordeleau picked up two assists in the victory, and 21-year-old Filip Bystedt notched a goal in the first period for his seventh point in eight games since returning to the AHL club.

If the picks Grier got back in the deal that sent Ceci and Granlund to Dallas yield more high-value prospects, then it will have been worth it. From Dallas' perspective, the same will be true if those players contribute to a deep run toward Lord Stanley's Cup. For all their differences, both clubs will have to wait to feel the true impact of any deal made.

Even bad games are teachable moments for the Sharks. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky, who said he was frustrated by the lack of urgency as the game went on, mentioned that the whole organization is assessing who should be around for this rebuild.

"We're all on the same page of understanding what guys are playing for," Warsofsky said. "We're trying to figure out who's going to be here for the future and who we think shouldn't be here. That's what the next 25 games will tell us."