Warsofsky: Sharks need to 'get the respect back' to earn calls from refs

San Jose has had a hard time staying out of the sin bin in the early goings of the season, and coach Ryan Warsofsky doesn't think the Sharks will garner favor from officials if they don't play better.

"Until we get the respect back in this league as a team, we're not gonna get those calls," he told reporters following Tuesday's 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, including San Jose Hockey Now. "We're just not. That's just the way it is."

He added: "In five, 10 years from now, whatever team's working their way up will be the same exact thing. We've talked about that, and that's something we gotta continue to talk about moving forward."

The Sharks have been one of the NHL's most penalized teams through their first seven games of the season. They rank fifth among all squads in penalty minutes (81) and penalty minutes per game (11:34), second in penalties taken (38), and tied for 20th in penalties drawn (24).

San Jose's minus-14 penalty differential is the worst in the league, and its penalty kill ranks 24th with a 74.3% success rate.

Warsofsky's squad took seven penalties in Tuesday's defeat alone, including four for tripping. Two of those infractions were committed by Will Smith, and the Ducks scored both of their power-play goals with the rookie in the box.

"You've got to compete, try to be physical, but the stick penalties, the lazy penalties - us not skating - are the ones that obviously got us in trouble big-time tonight," Warsofsky said. "It's been the story of the last few games here."

San Jose is spending just 39.1% of its time in the offensive zone at even strength, which is below league average, according to NHL EDGE. Sharks defenseman Cody Ceci believes that's part of his team's problem.

"When you're always defending, you do tend to take more penalties," he said. "Definitely something we need to clear up, clean up going forward. Maybe stay off the refs a little bit, too. Maybe they'll start calling a little more in our favor."

San Jose also owned a paltry penalty differential (minus-45) during its abysmal 2023-24 campaign, in which the team went 19-54-9.

It took the Sharks until the 12th game of that season to record their first victory, and they're staring down another lengthy winless streak after starting the campaign 0-5-2.

"We just have to stick together as a team, pick each other up off the ice," Ceci said. "It's tough, what we're going through. We are competing hard, we're working hard, just not getting the results. ... We need to get a win."

San Jose's next chance at getting a victory will come Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 p.m. ET.