For a while there, it looked like the Sharks might complete their third straight come-from-behind win at SAP Center on Monday night. Instead, the brief streak came to an end with a 6-2 loss to the visiting Calgary Flames.
For the third consecutive contest, San Jose failed to score the first goal, as Milan Lucic got the Flames on the board just over four minutes into the game. Thirty-four seconds later, the Sharks were in a 2-0 hole and Calgary held a dominant 3-0 advantage midway through the first period.
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE To the Sharks' credit, they battled back. They pulled within 3-2 early in the second period, and appeared poised to tie things up, but ultimately never managed to do so.
Here are three takeaways from a game San Jose could have won if not for such a poor start:
Same trap
Last Tuesday, the Sharks fell behind 1-0 before storming back for a 3-1 victory. Two days later, San Jose gave up the first two goals before rebounding for a 6-3 win. Both of those occurrences came on the road, but home cooking didn't serve the Sharks any better Monday night.
San Jose Sharks
Find the latest San Jose Sharks news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
From the opening puck drop, it was obvious San Jose was going to be in trouble. The Flames had much better energy coming out of the gates, which likely was related to the fact they were beaten by the Sharks in their own building last week. It only was a matter of time until they broke the deadlock, but Calgary didn't let up after taking a lead. The Flames piled on and put San Jose in a dire situation before most players truly had broken a sweat.
The Sharks showed tremendous fight in climbing back from deficits to win their two previous games, but the hole they dug themselves against the Flames was too deep to climb out of.
Big names on the blue line
When San Jose did initiate its failed comeback attempt Monday night, the big guns led the charge.
Less than four minutes after Calgary went up 3-0, Erik Karlsson showed what makes the defenseman so special. He made a slick move to create space coming out of the defensive zone, carried the puck through the neutral zone before laying it off to Barclay Goodrow upon crossing the Flames' blue line. When Goodrow returned the puck back to a driving Karlsson, the former Norris Trophy winner one-timed the pass and snuck the puck past Calgary goaltender David Rittich.
Karlsson prominently figured into the Sharks' second goal, as well. On the power play, Karlsson made a cross-ice pass to Timo Meier, which forced the Flames to collapse towards the net. Meier passed it back to the point, where Brent Burns was ready and waiting to launch a blistering slapshot that cut the deficit to 3-2.
Karlsson's pass on that power-play goal was a play most NHLers never would even think to make, and Burns' shot -- well, there's not many players who can rip it like that.
With Tomas Hertl done for the season and Logan Couture still sidelined, the Sharks need what remains of their star power to shine through. It did Monday night.
[RELATED: Sharks' Hertl preaches positive mindset in ACL, MCL rehab]
Long-time strength turned temporary weakness
San Jose had the best penalty kill in the league all season long, and frankly, it hasn't been close. But for whatever reason, it has not been nearly as successful of late.
Lucic's opening goal, as well as Matthew Tkachuk's and Mikael Backlund's third-period markers, all were scored on the power play. The Sharks finished the game 3-of-6 on the penalty kill, and they've now allowed nine power-play goals over their last 10 games. Their penalty-kill percentage over that span? A paltry 70 percent (21-of-30).
For reference, San Jose entered Monday's game having killed off 86.9 percent of the penalties the team had taken this season.
Every team goes through slumps, and clearly, the Sharks' penalty-kill unit is no exception.