CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device
SAN JOSE — The Sharks’ six-game winning streak ended with a thud Tuesday night at SAP Center.
Slowing down Connor McDavid and the first place Edmonton Oilers for the second tine in eight days was a bit too much to ask.
The Sharks fell behind by two goals after the first 7:59 of the first period and never fully recovered in a 5-2 loss, San Jose’s first defeat since Nov. 2.
Kevin Labanc scored in the first period for the Sharks, but McDavid assisted on goals by Zack Kassian and James Neal as the Oilers led 4-1 after 40 minutes. McDavid scored in the third period at the 6:34 mark, giving Edmonton a 5-1 lead. Barclay Goodrow got that goal back as he scored his sixth of the season at the 9:43 mark.
Goalie Martin Jones, who had been in net for the duration of the win streak, allowed three goals on nine shots in the first period as his record fell to 8-8-1 for the season.
During their win streak, which included a 6-3 win over the Oilers on Nov. 12, the Sharks had not trailed after the first period as they had outscored the opposition 11-1 after 20 minutes.
But that record ended in a big way Tuesday.
The Oilers got goals from Markus Gtanlund, Kassian and Jujhar Khaira in the first period. Khaira’s goal was especially tough to give up, as it came on a relatively soft shot from the blue line with just 15 seconds left before intermission.
SEASON PASS DIGITAL OFFER
If you have not already, we strongly encourage you to sign up for a digital subscription, which gives you access to all content on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites. With your support, we can continue bringing these stories — and much more — to your screens. Here’s where to sign up for the season pass: Mercury News, East Bay Times.
“That’s a tough way to start the game. Tough hole to crawl out of,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “Having said that, I thought they were heavier and harder than last time. More desperate than last time we played them, so they obviously wanted to fix what went wrong last time for them in here. They were much more engaged all night.
“So, it was tough once we were down to climb back against a team that I thought was playing really hard.”
The Sharks had 18 shots, with their one goal coming from Labanc. With the Sharks cycling, Logan Couture put a shot toward the net that Labanc was able to get a stick on, as the puck went up and behind goalie Mikko Koskinen at the 9:23 mark to cut Edmonton’s lead to 2-1.
Koskinen had 24 saves after two periods Tuesday and improved to 2-0-0 in three starts against the Sharks.
Looking to generate a little more balance from their four forward lines, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer shuffled his second, third and fourth lines. Patrick Marleau was moved up to play with Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier and Goodrow spent a handful of shifts on the fourth line with Dylan Gambrell.
That might have less of an indictment on Goodrow as it was on Lukas Radil, who saw little ice time all game.
When the Sharks beat the Oilers last week, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist. McDavid had an assist and one shot on goal in 18 minutes and three seconds of ice time.
Those numbers looked pretty good compared to how other teams have fared in recent games against the Oilers’ duo. In the two games since in Edmonton’s game against Colorado and Dallas, McDavid had combined for three goals and six assists and Draisaitl had one goal and six assists.
The Sharks and the defense pair of Vlasic and Karlsson, to help slow down McDavid and Draisaitl in that game, and DeBoer turned to them again Tuesday. But the Oilers’ depth players a bigger factor than those of the Sharks, as Granlund’s goal was his first of the season and Khaira’s goal was his fourth.
The Sharks, who had wins over Chicago, Minnesota, Nashville, Edmonton, Anaheim and Detroit the last two weeks, were looking for their first seven-game winning streaks since Jan. 2-15 of last season.
The Sharks play at T-Mobile Arena against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
