San Jose Sharks forward Kiefer Sherwood delivered a blunt assessment of his team’s recent form after a crushing 7-2 defeat to the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday. The loss triggered an immediate players-only meeting, a rare step indicating the severity of the team’s current slump. Sherwood took ownership of the failure, stating, “It’s unacceptable. It’s not good enough. To a man, to a team. It’s not on the coaches right now,” emphasizing that the squad must stick together to reverse their fortunes.
Kiefer Sherwood labels recent slide ‘unacceptable’ as San Jose struggles to find consistency
The Sharks were dismantled early in the contest, falling behind just 1:23 into the first period when Adrian Kempe capitalized on a breakaway to open the scoring. San Jose could not recover from the initial blow, trailing 3-0 by the end of the first frame. The lopsided scoreline highlighted a lack of competitive edge, with Sherwood noting that the team is “not winning our battles” and failing to make critical plays when it matters most.
This result marks the Sharks’ third consecutive loss and their fifth defeat in the last six games, a trend that has eroded confidence in the locker room. With the team struggling to find rhythm and resilience, the players-only meeting serves as a critical reset point. As Sherwood urged, the group must “turn it here” by becoming harder to play against and executing with greater precision to halt the bleeding before it becomes unmanageable.
Source: NHL.com
