SAN JOSE — A little less than a year ago, goalie Magnus Chrona was starting his second game in as many days for the University of Denver. He went on to make 25 saves on Jan. 7, helping the Pioneers earn a 7-2 non-conference win over Alaska-Fairbanks.
Thursday, Chrona found himself in a completely different world. He was making his first career NHL start, and within the first few seconds of the opening puck drop, saw Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid come barreling into the San Jose Sharks zone with a full head of steam.
The Oilers scored on that opening shift — and continued to pour it on against the rookie goaltender and a reeling Sharks team that appeared to only have a fleeting interest in playing hard on defense.
Chrona allowed four goals on 11 shots — not all his fault — before he was mercifully pulled, as Kaapo Kahkonen played the final two periods in what became a 5-0 loss to the Oilers before an announced sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.
“I feel bad for him. We didn’t do a good job of playing defense in front of him tonight,” Sharks coach David Quinn said of Chrona. “You take him out to protect him in a lot of ways and not subject them to our lapses defensively.
“If you’re going to have a chance to beat that team, you’ve got to be committed to playing defense and we just got away from our structure defensively big time.”
The Sharks put 26 shots toward Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner but were shut out for the sixth time this season in what was their final home game of 2023.
“It’s tough but we have to stay with it,” Sharks center Tomas Hertl said. “We have to play harder and help our goalies, but we have to start burying these chances. We have to be hungry around the net.”
San Jose closes the calendar year on Sunday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche, likely eager to put the past 12 months — and the last two weeks — in the rearview mirror.
The Sharks, after a 6-2-2 stretch from Nov. 24 to Dec. 12, have been outscored 33-10 on what is now a seven-game losing streak. They have the NHL’s worst record at 9-24-3.
“We just need to get back to doing our jobs, simplify, be hard,” said Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs, who had a plus/minus rating of -5. “We can look at the structure and watch tape on that stuff, but a lot of it comes from work. A lot of it comes from the little things that made us successful there for that span of playing well defensively.
“That was our biggest asset in those games and we’ve got to get back to that.”
Circumstances thrust Chrona into Thursday’s game against Edmonton. Mackenzie Blackwood remained unavailable for a second straight game due to an undisclosed illness, and Kahkonen faced 42 shots in the Sharks’ 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.
Blackwood flew to Los Angeles with the Sharks on Wednesday morning but felt ill and didn’t take part in the team’s morning skate. Chrona was recalled from the Barracuda later in the day and backed up Kahkonen against the Kings.
Quinn said after Thursday’s game that Blackwood appears to be on track to be available to play Sunday in Colorado. Blackwood’s last game came on Saturday as he stopped 19 of 25 shots in a 7-4 Sharks loss to the Vancouver Canucks. For the season, Blackwood, in 23 games, is 4-14-2 with a .889 save percentage.
Chrona, a first-year professional, made his NHL debut under similar trying circumstances on Nov. 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After Blackwood allowed six goals on 18 shots, Chrona came on in relief midway through the second period and gave up four goals on 17 shots in what became a 10-2 Sharks loss.
Chrona, a fifth-round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018, was acquired by the Sharks in April 2021 for defenseman Fredrik Claesson. In 11 games with the Barracuda this season, Chrona, who won an NCAA title with the Pioneers in 2022, is 3-6-2 with a .900 save percentage.
The Sharks said they do not want Chrona to dwell on Thursday’s loss.
“Short memory,” Burroughs said. “It’s tough. It’s not the way that we want to start for him. The first NHL game’s supposed to be special. Obviously for us to let them down like that is tough.”
“There’s a level of excitement and nerves when you start your first NHL game,” Quinn said, “so he’s got that out of the way.”
