Unsurprisingly, the San Jose Sharks have had a difficult start to the regular season, going 0-6-1 through seven games. A combination of a difficult schedule and an injured roster without much star power has reared its ugly head and left San Jose as the only team in the NHL without a win thus far. But while the circumstances certainly haven’t helped, the Sharks have compounded their problems by rarely putting together complete full-game efforts. An examination of the team through seven games demonstrates not only the shortcomings of the lineup but some of the specific struggles they’ve faced on the ice — and emphasizes just how challenging it might be for them to win games this season.
Sharks Can’t Afford to Slip Up
Before the season began, the Sharks’ roster certainly didn’t seem to be on par with most of the others in the league, and certainly not up to the level of the teams expected to make the playoffs. The first two weeks of the season have confirmed this.
Due to the talent gap between the Sharks and their opponents, they have no choice but to remain completely locked in and play nearly to perfection the entire game to have a chance at a win. Even short segments without attention to detail can lead to long stretches stuck in the defensive zone, massive disparities in shots on goal and multi-goal deficits.
In the most complete game the Sharks have played this season, on Oct. 14 against the Colorado Avalanche, they largely stayed focused the whole game. In particular, Mackenzie Blackwood turned in a spectacular 51-save performance, and the rest of the team did just enough to hold a 1-0 lead for most of the contest. But they couldn’t add a second goal or preserve the victory on defense, conceding the tying score with 1:34 to go in the third period before losing in a shootout. The game showed the difficulty of playing a complete game — particularly with the players the Sharks have this season — but also suggests that doing so will be necessary for just about any Sharks win.
Sharks Coming Undone by Brief Stretches
The Sharks are clearly having trouble playing a complete game, and in the process have shown how even a few minutes of game action can completely derail their chances. In four of their seven games this season, they have had at least one two-minute span in which they allowed multiple goals. These situations never produce positive results. They turn leads into deficits and deficits into blowouts. In all four games, those short bursts ultimately decided the game’s outcome, effectively eliminating any opportunity San Jose might have had to win. Most notably, in the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 17, they allowed four goals in 6:01, turning a 3-2 lead into a 6-3 loss in less than half a period. These types of runs in which the Sharks lose focus and run out of gas are among the main contributors to a historically bad start for the franchise.
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The Sharks simply can’t afford to allow these quick bursts, even in games in which they otherwise play well. They can reverse that positivity, putting them in holes from which their roster can’t escape, in just a couple of minutes.
Sharks Face an Uphill Battle for Wins
There aren’t a lot of excuses to be made for these performances, at least not in terms of the big-picture, full-season outlook for the team. Yes, they’ve faced almost exclusively elite teams so far, but their roster still appears to be the weakest in the league. Sure, a couple of key players are injured, but none of them move the needle so much as to completely change San Jose’s fortune.
The solution for the Sharks is as simple to state as it is difficult to put into practice. They need to remain locked in and execute at their best for 60 minutes in order to win games. Unlike many teams in the NHL, they’re not good enough to slip up or play poorly and still find a way to win. It will undeniably be difficult, but it may truly be their only chance.