A 3-1 lead in the third period should be the kind of cushion the Sharks can sit on, maybe even stretch. Instead, Saturday in Detroit, it became another warning flare.
Early in the final period, Ivar Stenberg took a Macklin Celebrini feed and fired it past John Gibson to push San Jose ahead by two. The Sharks had controlled long stretches, Celebrini was in the middle of a three-point night, and the game looked there for the taking.
Twelve minutes later, it was tied. After the shootout, it was a loss.
That’s the problem now. For the fourth time in eight games, San Jose surrendered a two-goal third-period lead.
The first three times, the Sharks escaped with wins - two in overtime to start the season and another in a shootout against the Nashville Predators. This time, the runway finally ended.
Instead of surviving the collapse, they were punished for it.
It’s becoming hard to dismiss as an oddity. The Sharks have now let a habit turn into a cost. They already dropped back-to-back games against the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins, and the Detroit result cut deeper because it wasn’t just another shaky finish - it was a game they actually gave away in the standings.
The third period has been brutal. Through the first seven games, opponents outscored San Jose 12-5 in the final frame, and the Sharks hadn’t won a single one.
Eight games into the season, they are one of only two teams in the league without a regulation victory, with the Los Angeles Kings the only other club in that category and having played two fewer games. San Jose is 4-3-1, but that record does some flattering for a team that keeps losing the last 20 minutes.
Goaltending, at least in Detroit, wasn’t the easy scapegoat. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots and finished with a 2.78 goals-against average against an expected 2.77, per Natural Stat Trick.
He was right around what the Sharks needed. The Emmitt Finnie goal that made it 3-2 and the Alex DeBrincat goal that tied it late weren’t the kind of soft chances that put the spotlight on a goalie.
A team should be able to defend a two-goal lead without asking its netminder to stand on his head, and this one wasn’t on Nedeljkovic.
Afterward, Dmitry Orlov pointed the finger at himself. He owned the second goal, saying, “I think we lost because of me on the second goal,” and explained that he hesitated on a rolling puck instead of stepping up on Finnie in the slot. That’s been the theme with these late collapses: a small delay, a missed read, one defender arriving a half-step late, and the door opens.
Ryan Warsofsky doesn’t buy the idea that the Sharks are simply turtling and inviting pressure, either. “I didn’t think we were sitting back,” he said.
“That second goal, we make a tough read there in the neutral zone. Third one, obviously goes off when he skates and goes right to him, so that’s kind of unfortunate.
But it doesn’t feel like we’re sitting back. We’re still getting some opportunities.
We’re pushing forward.”
That’s part of what makes this feel so tricky. San Jose wasn’t trapped in its own end in Detroit the way it was against the Kings.
The Sharks were still generating chances. Warsofsky put it plainly himself: “We’re saying the right things, for whatever reason.
This has kind of gone on here for a little bit.”
The details are the issue, not the effort. That’s a tougher problem to solve than simple passivity, because the mistakes are more subtle - a bad read in the neutral zone, an unlucky bounce, a moment of hesitation on a loose puck. Players can believe they’re doing enough and still keep getting burned.
And while it’s early, this is not a new storyline for San Jose. It’s the same flaw that crushed them a year ago, when inexperience and a thin blue line turned third periods into trouble and left them four points short of the playoffs.
The roster is different now. Jacob Trouba, Darnell Nurse, and Michael Kesselring were brought in to help provide the kind of late-game steadiness that was missing before.
But eight games in, that steadiness still hasn’t shown up when the Sharks need it most. San Jose sits fourth in the Pacific with nine points, close enough to a playoff spot that the organization can legitimately chase one this season.
The gap between a 4-3-1 start and a 6-1-1 start is almost entirely those third periods. The Sharks have been good enough to build the lead.
Until they learn how to protect it, every encouraging night comes with the same warning label.
In Other News...
Sharks Let Another Two-Goal Lead Slip Away In Brutal Loss
The Sharks had another one of those nights that has become far too familiar this season, building a cushion and then spending the late stages trying to hang on. San Jose was in position to leave Detroit with a much-needed win after taking control early, only to watch the game tilt the other way as the Red Wings chipped back into it and forced the extra session.
Shootouts have been unforgiving for San Jose lately, and this one followed the same script with Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg all coming up empty. Alex Nedeljkovic kept the Sharks alive long enough to reach the tiebreaker, but the margin for error vanished quickly, leaving another blown multi-goal lead as the kind of loss that stings even more because the Sharks have been able to survive similar situations before. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Waste Another Strong Effort With A Finish Fans Know Too Well
The Sharks had themselves in position to leave Detroit with a result that would have matched the effort they put in at Little Caesars Arena. Dmitry Orlov, Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg all found the net as San Jose battled the Red Wings through a tight, back-and-forth night, and for long stretches it looked like the visitors had done enough to come away satisfied.
Instead, the familiar frustration crept back in late. San Jose carried a 3-2 lead before the Red Wings pulled even, and the game eventually slipped away in a shootout loss, another reminder that the Sharks have been finding ways to compete without always finding the finish they need. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Lose William Eklund At A Brutal Time For This Season
William Eklunds absence is already set to linger over San Jose for a while after the young forward suffered an ankle injury on a hit from Simon Benoit. The Sharks have been trying to keep pace through the early part of the season, but losing one of their more important pieces this long leaves a noticeable hole in the lineup and takes some of the edge off a stretch where every point can matter.
The timing also wipes Eklund out of a couple of games that had been circled on the schedule against Ottawa, including the Oct. 22 and 31 matchups. With the forward now working through surgery and a recovery that will keep him sidelined for an extended stretch, San Jose will have to keep navigating without him while hoping the injury does not linger beyond this early-season window. [Read more 🡒]