San Jose Sharks Find Themselves In Similar Position
The San Jose Sharks have surpassed the midpoint of their season and they find themselves in a very similar position to this time a year ago. Actually, the Sharks are three points off their pace from last season when they sported a 22-15-5 record with 49 points as opposed to their 22-18-2 record and 46 points this year.
San Jose sits in a playoff position as they did a year ago, but I’m sure everyone remembers how they crumbled down the stretch.
With Todd McLellan just having come through, it’s a perfect time to look back and see where this franchise stands after making big changes this offseason.
In looking at everything surrounding this team, there isn’t much difference between the two at least when it comes to the statistics and on-ice production. As it stands now, the Sharks are still too over-reliant on their power play, although they have been better during their four-game winning streak at lighting the lamp at even strength.
Currently, San Jose sports the league’s seventh-best power play at 20.4 percent after finishing last year sixth at 20.9 percent. No surprises there as the Sharks have always been one of the best teams with the man advantage. San Jose has improved their penalty kill from 25th to 19th this year, although there is still plenty of work to be done in that department.
More from Editorials
- Korenar deserves a chance at the NHL level
- Three prospects the Sharks should consider drafting
- Red hot Couture provides a much needed boost
- Is it reasonable for the Sharks to fire Doug Wilson?
- NHL misses golden opportunity with Tahoe games
Meanwhile, the Sharks have still struggled at five-on-five to consistently score. San Jose sports a minus-two ratio right now having scored 74 goals at even strength, while allowing 76. This is an improvement over their minus-11 ratio at the conclusion of last season (144 goals for as opposed to 155 goals against), but Peter DeBoer wanted there to be more of an emphasis at improving their five-on-five production which is still hit-and-miss.
Furthermore, San Jose still has plenty of limitations in their own zone. A season after ranking 24th in the league at 2.76 goals against per game, the Sharks finds themselves in familiar territory sitting 21st in the league at 2.71 goals against per game.
Doug Wilson might need to go out and bring in another NHL-caliber blue liner in order for the Sharks to truly be able to improve in the defensive zone.
Finally, and probably most discouraging to a lot of fans of Team Teal, San Jose continues their trend of being one of the worst home-ice time in the NHL. While the Sharks were below average last year at 19-17-5, it was far below what many had come to expect from San Jose at SAP Center.
Thus far, the Sharks have taken it to a new low as they are tied for the fewest home wins in the NHL with seven, and they have the worst home-ice winning percentage. This is a trend that needs to change immediately if San Jose has any shot of returning to playoff action.
The Sharks have been undergoing a transformation of sorts this season, and to date, there hasn’t been much differentiating this year’s team from last year’s. While this is certainly a deeper team up front, San Jose still has defensive concerns and is relying on a bunch of young players to step up.
Also, the Sharks would do well to avoid the February swoon that affected this group last year when they dropped all eight home games and won only three games during that month. Granted, San Jose went through a similar stretch this past December where they only won four contests.
Next: Donskoi's Beauty Gives Sharks Overtime Win
The only way the Sharks can separate themselves from last year’s stigma is to find a way to make the playoffs this season. San Jose will need a strong second half to ensure themselves a spot, but they can’t miss out for a second consecutive year. That would be devastating for this organization.
As it stands right now, there’s not much separating this group from last year’s, despite DeBoer’s comments to the contrary. The time for talk is over now as this Sharks team must prove that on the ice over the course of the next 40 games.