Sharks haven't gotten home cooking they had hoped for at all

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Home cooking for the Sharks hasn't tasted very good over the last two weeks.

After a big road win over the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 20, the Sharks flew home to San Jose for what was supposed to be an eight-game homestand.

The second game of the homestand against the Vegas Golden Knights was postponed when Tomas Hertl was placed into the NHL's COVID-19 protocols.

Still, the now seven-game stretch should have been a time for the Sharks to get back on the right track, build some momentum and climb up in the standings.

Instead, through six games, the homestand has been nothing short of a disaster. After Saturday's 4-0 loss to the Golden Knights, San Jose is 1-4-1 with the Blues coming to town for the homestand finale Monday night.

The Sharks (8-11-3; 19 points) have been outscored 28-18 in the six games and have been shut out twice on their home ice during the stretch (H/T AP's Josh Dubow).

Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury picked up his 65th career shutout, and after the game, Sharks coach Bob Boughner gave the netminder credit, but also provided an honest assessment of his team.

"Fleury played very well," Boughner told reporters on a Zoom conference call. "I thought that we took some water on early in the game. Obviously, at one point it was 7- or 8-1 in shots. We spent a lot of time in our end. Didn't necessarily give up a lot of high danger scoring areas. I thought the second half of the first period, we generated some chances.

"You know, Fleury made some big saves, some very timely saves early in the game where things could have been a little different, but as the game wore on, I thought that, not for lack of effort on our part, but you could see it sustain-wise, we were a little bit one-and-done as a team. [We're] a team that's played five games in eight days and you could see that as the game went on."

To make matters worse, the Sharks have been digging themselves early holes that they are unable to climb out of.

According to Darin Stephens, Saturday's contest was the fourth straight game the Sharks have fallen behind 2-0, the first time they've done so since 2010.

Maybe the most jarring stat was pointed out by The Athletic's Kevin Kurz. Vegas has played three games at SAP Center this season and has won each of them. The Sharks now have played eight games since returning from Arizona and they have two wins at home.

Yes, the Sharks' bitter rival has more wins at the barn in San Jose this season than the team that calls it home.

The Sharks' loss Saturday combined with the Anaheim Ducks' win over the Colorado Avalanche drops San Jose into last place in the West Division.

RELATED: Meier misses Sharks-Golden Knights game with lower-body injury

This wasn't how the Sharks envisioned this season-long homestand going, and even a win over the Blues on Monday won't rectify the damage done. But at the very least, if they can defeat St. Louis, the Sharks will head to Anaheim with a good taste in their mouths.

If not, that's going to be a very long short flight from San Jose to Southern California.

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