The Sharks fell to 0-1 without Joe Thornton, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery before Thursday’s game.
San Jose nursed three one-goal leads early, but found the struggling New York Rangers just too much as New York rallied for a 6-5 win at SAP Center on the final night before the league pauses for NHL All-Star Weekend.
“Just bad defensive hockey,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture, who reached the 20-goal plateau by scoring twice. “Don’t know if we’re cheating there for offense, but we gave them way too much.”
Considering how busy San Jose has been lately, and toss the Thornton bad news on top of that, the break couldn’t come at a better time.