San Jose Sharks forward Kiefer Sherwood didn't appreciate the Los Angeles Kings running up the score in Wednesday's 7-2 victory.
"They're up 6-2. Put their top power play out," Sherwood said, per San Jose Hockey Now's Sheng Peng. "(Artemi) Panarin's blocking shots, celebrating to his bench. It's disrespectful. ... Things aren't going to change unless we man up and do something about it."
San Jose's loss was its fifth in six games, dropping the club to 7-9-1 on the campaign. The Sharks held a players-only meeting after being routed by their division rivals.
"It's unacceptable," Sherwood said. "It's not good enough. It's not good enough to a man, to a team. It's not. It's not on the coaches right now. We're not winning our battles, we're not being hard to play against, we're not making plays. It's not good enough. We gotta turn it on here."
He added, "We're gonna fix our work ethic next game, and we're going to get gritty."
The Sharks were largely expected to take a step toward contention this season after missing the playoffs by four points in 2025-26. San Jose made several notable offseason additions, yet the club is struggling at both ends of the ice in the early going, ranking 26th in goals for and 30th in goals against.
San Jose returns to action Friday against the Minnesota Wild.
