The San Jose Sharks did a lot of the things Ryan Warsofsky asked for on Monday night. They just didn’t get the result to match.
San Jose fell 2-1 to the Calgary Flames, dropping its fourth game in the last five, even though the structure and support Warsofsky has been pushing were there for long stretches.
“You can feel it on the bench and in the dressing room, I think our game’s coming,” Warsofsky said.
The Sharks leaned into a simpler breakout game in morning skate and carried that into the matchup. The idea was to come up the ice together, with the puck, and cut down on the risk that comes with a more aggressive stretch-heavy approach. In theory, it makes zone exits cleaner, shortens the game, and keeps the team safer defensively.
The numbers backed that up. Per Stathletes, San Jose attempted 25 5-on-5 Stretch Passes against Calgary, its second-lowest total of the season and just ahead of the 24 it had on Oct. 13 against the Boston Bruins.
That’s a sharp drop from the Sharks’ season-long pace through Nov. 1, when they averaged 40.93 5-on-5 Stretch Passes per game, the most in the NHL. For comparison, the Florida Panthers sat at a league-low 29.08.
Nolan Allan said the change showed up in the way the Sharks supported one another.
“We were supporting each other better on our breakouts, playing a little bit more connected, and we were able to get the puck out of the zone a bit easier,” Nolan Allan said.
That support helped San Jose generate 37 5-on-5 Successful Controlled Entries, a season high. Heading into the game, the Sharks had been around the middle of the pack in that area.
Still, the offense didn’t really show up until the game forced them to open things up. Down 2-0, Michael Misa (77) stretches the zone, Jacob Trouba (65) finds him, and a beautiful Misa pass to Mason Marchment (27) kicks off the chaos that leads to a Sam Dickinson (6) goal.
That sequence fit the larger story of the night: the Sharks can create, but the balance between playing responsibly and pushing for offense still hasn’t clicked.
Dickinson pointed to the defensive side first.
“We were playing pretty well into our structure. I don’t think there was too much chasing around or anything like that,” he said. “Things go wrong in the D-zone when you start just scrambling and trying to do too much or whatever.”
Then he turned to the other end, where the frustration is still obvious.
“There’s obviously some frustration and some tension in the room. I think, at times, you just got to relax and go out there and play hockey,” Dickinson said.
“You see that when we started to play our best, especially in the third period today when we needed that offense, you saw a lot of our skill come out. When we have the puck, we’re a pretty dangerous team.”
Dickinson also said the Sharks need to be “smart with the puck. Not trying to do too much and just trust our instincts.”
Even with the loss, San Jose did some things well. The Sharks outchanced Calgary 16-8 at 5-on-5 and had a 6-3 edge off the rush, which fits with the idea that their best offense still comes when they can move quickly and attack with pace. They also limited the Flames to a season-best 2:51 of 5-on-5 Possession Time in the offensive zone, while spending 4:31 there themselves.
Warsofsky, meanwhile, sees room for more offense to grow out of the structure.
“There are opportunities for us to get our D up the ice a little bit more. Get some more support off the rush. And opportunities to get to the net a little bit more in the offensive zone.”
In Other News...
Sharks Roster Shuffle Puts One Young Prospect Back In Focus
The Sharks were busy reshuffling their depth chart ahead of the game against Vancouver, bringing up Filip Bystedt and defenseman Libor Hjek from the San Jose Barracuda while sending Luca Cagnoni back to the AHL. The moves came as the club also had to navigate a pair of upper-body injuries, leaving the roster thinner and opening another window for younger players to stay in the conversation.
For Bystedt, the recall is another reminder that San Jose still has eyes on its prospects as it tries to piece together a workable lineup. Hjeks stay was brief, lasting a week before he was sent back down without getting into an NHL game, but the churn around him has kept the focus on who might be next to get a look if the Sharks need more help from the Barracuda. [Read more 🡒]