SAN JOSE -- Sharks captain Logan Couture has long been a player who doesn't hold back in criticizing his team when they don't play well. And after an abysmal 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night, he didn't hide his frustration.
"Top to bottom, just not NHL level tonight," Couture said, clearly dissatisfied. "Pretty disappointing. Veterans, myself, all the way through the lineup. We're not close to NHL level and disappointing to do it in our home opener in front of our very good fans."
Couture isn't the Shark in disbelief with how San Jose has played in the first two contests of the 2019-20 season.
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Sure, it's early. And yes, the Sharks just played a home-and-home against a Stanley Cup contender while trying to integrate a host of new faces.
But they aren't satisfied with any part of it. Not in giving up three short-handed goals over the course of two games. Not in being outscored 9-2 to kick off their season.
None of it.
This isn't how the Sharks expect to play. Things, clearly, need to change.
San Jose Sharks
"I don't know what is happening right now, but this is not us," Tomas Hertl said after the game. "It's not about young guys. It's about the top guys, me and other guys. We have to step up and be there, especially on the power play. Three shorties in two games just can't happen."
San Jose's special teams have been especially dismal over the first two contests. In addition to giving up three goals to Vegas' penalty kill, the Sharks' power play is yet to score and has had trouble putting pucks on net.
When Couture tried pinpointing where the power play was going wrong, he found problems with just about every aspect of it.
"Entering the zone is a problem, and then, there are just mistakes," he said. "Spots you're supposed to be in, guys just aren't in them. We're coached where to go, what to do. And we're not doing it."
When coach Peter DeBoer was asked about the power play, however, he brought the conversation back to the big picture: The Sharks have more to worry about than special teams.
"We've got to find a way to get four lines of guys out there that can put pressure on the other team without giving up stuff going the other way," he summarized.
Even though the big home-and-home against Vegas is over and the Sharks will hit the road for a three-game trip, their problems aren't all behind them.
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The Sharks will travel to Anaheim, Nashville and Chicago over the next week. If their first two games against the Golden Knights proved anything, it's that the road ahead isn't going to be very easy.
"When you play a team like Vegas, with a lot of veteran guys who know how to play and are heavy and hard ... we've had a hard time with it through the first two games," DeBoer said. "I think we've seen where the bar is in the Western Conference with a team like that. We've got a lot of work to do."