Sharks’ latest line shuffle puts Joe Thornton in an unusual spot
KANATA, Ontario — Searching for more offense at even strength, the Sharks are shuffling their lines in a significant way for Sunday’s game against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
Patrick Marleau will move to his more natural position of left wing on the top line with Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc, and Joe Thornton will play left wing on the Sharks’ third line with center Dylan Gambrell and right wing Marcus Sorensen.
Timo Meier drops from the top line to the second line with Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl, and Barclay Goodrow, with one goal in the last six games, will center the fourth line with Noah Gregor and Melker Karlsson. Goodrow has been used as a winger in the top nine forward group for most of the season.
The Sharks set a franchise record for goals in a season in 2018-19 with 289. But entering Sunday, they rank 25th in the NHL with just 19 even strength goals, which includes their historically slow start with just three goals in their first three games.
They’ve managed just 29 goals through 11 games, which includes nine goals on the power play. Friday, in a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Sharks had a season-low 17 shots.
“I didn’t like our offensive game (Friday). We’ve tightened up defensively the last few games where we’ve given ourselves a chance to win,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “Our offensive game was fairly non-existent in Toronto.
“We had a handful of chances, but we’ve got to get a combination where we’re defending well and creating some offense.”
The Sharks have been searching for more consistency from their four forward lines for most of the season. Kane has six goals and Labanc has four, but Meier two goals so far after he had 30 last season. On defense, outside of Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns, the four defensemen the Sharks will dress Sunday have combined for just one goal two assists.
“Just play down (in the offensive end) a little more,” Thornton said about generating more chances. “(DeBoer) always says it starts with our breakouts, so break out clean and play more down in their end.”
Thornton hasn’t played on the wing at any point this season and only sparingly throughout his 22-year NHL career with players like Marleau and Joe Pavelski.
With Pavelski, the two would switch positions here and there, as Thornton would take left side faceoffs and Pavelski right side draws. The same thing will happen Sunday night with Gambrell.
“It’s a reward for Gambrell. I think he’s played well,” DeBoer said. “I like the idea of Joe having a guy that can play down low with him and take draws on the other side and support him a little bit. I think Dylan needs a guy that’s comfortable in a center role, too, so their interchangeable on the ice
“So we’ll see. We’re throwing them in the blender here a little bit.”
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Thornton has four assists this season and although Gambrell has been held without a point or a shot on net the last two games, has been improving enough in DeBoer’s eyes to warrant an increase in responsibility. Gambrell has been the Sharks’ fourth line center nearly all season.
“I just like his compete,” DeBoer said of Gambrell. “He’s got good skill, he’s got good speed. I think (before) he was missing shift-to-shift competitiveness. He’s figuring out in the NHL there’s big men and you’ve got to be willing to go to those areas and win those battles to be effective.
“It took him a while, but I think he gets it.”