Mar 23, 2015; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators center Mika Zibanejad (93) celebrates his goal scored on San Jose Sharks goalie Antii Niemi (31) in the third period at the Canadian Tire Centre. The Senators defeated the Sharks 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
The 2014-15 San Jose Sharks have been defined by one word: inconsistency. It’s been a sickness that has plagued the Sharks all season long and has currently reared it’s ugly head once more.
San Jose has dropped three of their first four games, and four of their last five overall, on their current seven-game road trip following a 5-2 loss against the Ottawa Senators. This streak comes on the heels of San Jose winning four of their first five games to begin the month of March.
It’s this kind of roller-coaster ride of ups-and-downs that has seen the Sharks plummet in the Western Conference standings. As it stands now, San Jose ranks 12th in the Western Conference behind all seven of the Central Division teams. With only eight games remaining, the Sharks are likely to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2002-2003.
The problem for San Jose is this issue has been evident since the very beginning of the season, The Sharks won four of their first five games and picked up points in each one of those games to kick off the year. However, that hot start was rendered moot by a four-game losing streak. After alternating wins and losses throughout most of October and November, the Sharks hit another four-game losing streak at the end of November which dropped their record to 10-10-4.
This time, San Jose responded by winning nine of their next 10 games and looked like the Sharks team that many have come to expect. Once again, the hot streak was met by a corresponding losing streak as San Jose lost four of their next five to mitigate some of the ground they had gained on their competition. The Sharks closed out January on a high note by winning their last three games over perennial powerhouses in the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks.
However, the biggest drop in their play occurred during the month of February which killed the Sharks’ playoff hopes. San Jose lost 10 of their 13 games during the month of February and watched as other teams skyrocketed past them in the standings.
Also, San Jose’s inconsistent play can be measured by how they’ve stacked up against their competition. The Sharks owned Anaheim this season posting a 4-0-1 record against their Southern California rivals. However, San Jose dropped both games against the Buffalo Sabres, the worst team in the NHL by far. It’s embarrassing for a franchise that has reached the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons to lose both games against the Sabres.
As San Jose wraps up their final nine games of the season, it’s fairly evident that this Sharks team couldn’t gain any traction. One step forward, led to two steps backward for this franchise, and it’s not surprising considering the comments Doug Wilson made at the beginning of the year. Ultimately, this season was a missed opportunity by a group of players who had the talent to make the postseason, but could never put all the pieces together.
The one thing we do now about this iteration of the San Jose Sharks is they were consistently inconsistent from beginning to end.
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