The San Jose Sharks have lost their sixth game in a row, giving up the lead in five of those games. While they are in a rebuild, they struggle to win in this league and string them together.
The San Jose Sharks Struggle to Win in the League
The team is battling more for the puck, and playing more aggressively. However, they cannot keep the momentum into the third period.
Whether they are psychologically overthinking the game or they lose steam, they are losing games they should be winning. Their third-period play needs work if they want to win.
Overall, the Sharks have had more games where they have excelled with playing offensively. Their Defence is lacking; the team seems to rely on a handful of players to cover that area for them.
Their current record for the season is 11-21-6, where they are not sitting last in the Pacific Division and second to last in the entire league.
Sharks Are Becoming Comfortable Giving Up Their Lead
The Sharks started their losing streak against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday, December 14th. Since then, the only consistent thing they have done is to come up short and fall behind.
It’s not a secret that the Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky isn’t happy with his team’s performance. After their most recent loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, he made it clear that he understands that they aren’t playing the way they should. “We don’t know what it takes to win in this league.”
San Jose Sharks Checklist To Work On
The team has done small things throughout the last six losses that have given their opponents the lead. Each time the Sharks have blown their lead it has been the final stretch of the third period.
They stop skating, stop hunting for the pucks and eventually their winning lead is blown. They have easily handed away the puck on plays and have struggled to defensively fight their way back.
Sharks Rookies Playing Harder Than Most
Ryan Warsofksy has gone as far as moving players around into different lines. In hopes that the dynamics of players will lead to more goals and more wins. With forward William Eklund out, Warsofsky has to think outside the box in pairing players up after the short holiday break.
Warsofsky paired rookies Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini with Fabian Zetterlund. Proving to be one of the best lines for the team against the Golden Knights.
Both rookies ended the night with one or more points. Will Smith got a second-period goal being assisted by his line-mates, Celebrini and Zetterlund. This would be Smith’s sixth goal of his NHL career. This would also be the first-ever Celibrini to Smith primary assist on a goal.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for San Jose Sharks on 2024-12-27: pic.twitter.com/LozahvrrwR
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Their line also contributed to rookie defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin first first-ever NHL career goal in the first period. When asked about Mukhamadullin’s game, Warsofsky thought he was the best defensemen of the night for the Sharks.
Sharks Have Identified Weakness, Yet They Still Struggle
The Sharks need to focus on key areas that are lacking, their special teams, finding the “Killer instinct” Cody Ceci talked about earlier in the month and learning how to play defensively.
They gave up two short-handed goals within 23 seconds in the final period, sealing their fate. The Sharks had eight takeaways and 15 giveaways in their game against the Knights.
Their Fight Is Present on The Ice
Even though they are in the midst of their rebuild, progress starts now, not years down the line.
The Golden Knights Head Coach Bruce Cassidy can see a change in the Sharks and how they play which is a positive note when evaluating team progress. “It’s a learning curve for whatever team goes through that, I just think they’re more competitive in terms of their attack mentality. How they want to play the game, and that’s what I saw tonight, as opposed to the first time.”
The Sharks will face the Calgary Flames at home on December 28th. This will the first time the two teams face off this season.
Main Photo: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images
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