'It's Unacceptable': Sharks Hold Players-Only Meeting After 7-2 Rout by Kings

The San Jose Sharks closed the dressing-room door after their 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night and held a players-only meeting, with frustration boiling over during a third straight defeat. The message from inside the room was blunt: the performance was unacceptable. San Jose has now lost five of its past six games and sits at 7-9-1, a worrying slide for a club trying to end a seven-year postseason drought. The Kings took control early at Crypto.com Arena, scoring three times in the first period. Adrian Kempe struck twice in the opening frame on his way to his fifth career hat trick, completing it midway through the second period, while Artemi Panarin collected four assists and Quinton Byfield scored twice on the power play. Captain Macklin Celebrini gave the Sharks a brief lift with a second-period power-play goal that ended his six-game scoring drought, and Ivar Stenberg also scored with the man advantage, but San Jose never threatened a comeback. Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves for Los Angeles, while Yaroslav Askarov allowed all seven Kings goals. The meeting is the clearest sign yet that patience is wearing thin in San Jose. The Sharks now have to turn words into results quickly, before a losing run that is already gathering pace does lasting damage to their season.