SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The San Jose Sharks are in the kind of stretch that gets people talking, and not in a flattering way. After dropping five of six and holding a players-only meeting following Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the noise around the team has only gotten louder.
Head coach Ryan Warsofsky addressed that head-on after Friday’s morning skate, gathering the group for a message before the Sharks headed into the night.
“I grew up a Patriots fan, and there was a coach there for a long time named Bill Belichick, and one of his quotes was ‘Ignore the noise,’” Warsofsky said. “So we’re going to ignore the noise.”
He added, “We’re all in this together,” Warsofsky said. “We’re going to keep battling, going to keep working with this group day-to-day, keep working at it, and get our group playing the right way.”
The Belichick line Warsofsky was leaning on is, “Ignore the noise. Do your job.”
That message isn’t just for the outside chatter. It’s for what’s happening between the ears of the Sharks themselves.
“A lot of thinking right now, a lot of speculating,” Ty Dellandrea said, “but we just got to go out there and play.”
The on-ice issues have been there for a while. San Jose has been a step slow at 5-on-5 for most of the season, and the numbers have been ugly: an NHL-worst 34.5 5-on-5 Goals For %, along with the fewest 5-on-5 goals in the league.
Warsofsky said the scoring drought can lead to bad habits.
“When you don’t score, you sometimes maybe try to cheat it and go on the offense when you’re not scoring,” Warsofsky explained, “we can’t lose our urgency to defend and play defense. So there’s a little bit of overthinking and trying to force things.”
He pointed to the details that haven’t been sharp enough all season, from offensive-zone responsibility to defensive-zone finishes and puck battles.
“That’s F3 in the offensive zone, so we’re not giving up odd-man rushes, closing and ending plays in the defensive zone, winning pucks,” Warsofsky said. “One of [the Kings’] chances, we don’t go through their hands, [their] next guy gets the puck.”
The challenge doesn’t get any easier tonight. Warsofsky noted that the Wild are second in the NHL in scoring chances off rebounds in the slot, which means the Sharks’ net-front work has to be cleaner.
“Early box-outs is what we look for,” he said, of beating Minnesota’s forwards to the defensive spot. “When the guy’s deep in the corner, and then when he gets to your net, the technique of getting up under sticks is important.”
For a team trying to steady itself, the formula is simple enough to say and hard enough to execute.
“Little things like that,” Warsofsky said, “I think will help us.”
In Other News...
Sharks Young Scorers Offered Hope Before Another Brutal Late Collapse
The Sharks got a jolt from their young scorers in Dallas, where Michael Misa, Ivar Stenberg and Will Smith all found the net in a 4-3 loss to the Stars at American Airlines Arena. For a team that has spent much of this stretch searching for offense, the goals from that trio offered a reminder of why San Jose keeps leaning on its emerging talent, even in a season that has made every positive feel hard-earned.
Still, the result fit the larger pattern that has followed the Sharks lately. A game that briefly looked like it might tilt their way ended with another frustrating finish, and the loss was their seventh in the last eight games. The scoring touch from the youngsters was real enough, but San Jose still walked away with the same lingering problem it keeps running into: finding a way to turn flashes into points. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Let Another Winnable Game Slip As Familiar Problem Returns
The Sharks had a chance to turn a promising start into a much-needed result, and for a while it looked like they might do it. Macklin Celebrini finished with three points as San Jose grabbed the early edge and stayed within striking distance of Dallas, with Michael Misa getting the opener before the game settled into the kind of tight, back-and-forth battle the Sharks have been trying to win more often.
Instead, the familiar issue resurfaced at the worst possible time. Dallas kept punishing San Jose on the power play, and even a late man-advantage goal from Will Smith was not enough to pull the Sharks level before the final horn, leaving them with a fifth straight loss and another reminder of how thin the margin has been in these recent one-goal games. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Losing Skid Is Putting Mike Grier To A Costly Test
The Sharks latest slide has only sharpened the pressure on Mike Grier, with the club dropping five straight and seven of eight while sitting near the bottom of the league in several key performance areas. Ryan Warsofsky has continued to talk up the progress he sees, and Grier is not believed to be entertaining a coaching change, but the front office still has to decide whether this roster needs a deeper shakeup as the standings keep tightening around San Jose.
With the December 1 trade deadline approaching, the Sharks are already being linked to possible roster upgrades, including Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson, as Grier weighs whether to add help or stand pat with a team that has a low playoff probability. The challenge now is less about identifying the problem than figuring out how far he is willing to go to address it, especially if the market starts asking for more than San Jose may want to give. [Read more 🡒]