One of my favorite sports columnists, King Kaufman, uses a phrase that applies perfectly to the debacle last night. For instance, this is what he said about Washington playing the Saints this Sunday (the caps means he’s picking Washington to win):

WASHINGTON (4-9) at New Orleans (9-4): Trap game! Trap! Trap! Trap! The Saints routed the Cowboys in a huge national TV game in Dallas Sunday night, they’re in — OK, near — the Big Apple and the Giants circus next week. This week they get Washington, which can’t get out of its own way. Trap! I’m picking it.

This is what happened to the Sharks last night. The Ducks are coming! The Ducks are coming! After a 5-0 drubbing on November 21st that even casual Sharks fans still have nightmares about, I can imagine that the players and coaches might have been a bit preoccupied. And with four games in six days, a letdown isn’t unexpected. Especially when you are about to play a team with three friggin’ losses in 34 games.

Does it suck that they lost to a bad team that didn’t have their #1 D-man and their starting goaltender? Sure. But it’s part of the learning experience for this young team. Actually the coaches might be secretly glad. If the Sharks were riding a 4 game winning streak into Saturday, there could be a lack of hunger against Anaheim. As coaches say, the hardest time to get players motivated is when they’re winning. Ron Wilson can crack the whip today; the players will be listening.