San Jose Sharks Close Out February On Strong Note
The San Jose Sharks concluded February with an 8-4-2 record as they sit in third place in the Pacific.
What a difference a year makes. This time last year, the San Jose Sharks were at the height of their second-half collapse, as they won just three games during the month of February in 2015, including dropping all eight of their contests at SAP Center.
However, this season, San Jose continued their surge towards the postseason posting an 8-4-2 record in February as the Sharks bonded together instead of crumbling apart. This comes off the heels of an 8-2-2 month of January as team teal is playing their best hockey of the season at the right time of the year.
What’s even more impressive about the Sharks play during February is most of their work was done on the road. Of San Jose’s 14 contests during the month, 10 of them came away from home ice with the Sharks posting a very respectable 6-3-1 mark.
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
San Jose wrapped up the month with a pair of convincing victories over the past two nights, first by a 4-1 margin over the Vancouver Canucks before taking down the Montreal Canadiens by a 6-2 final last night.
Leading the way for the Sharks was none other than Joe Thornton who, at this time last year, was the center of attention after critical remarks towards general manager Doug Wilson. This season, Thornton was simply dominant for San Jose posting his best month of the season with 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) and a plus-five rating in 14 games.
In fact, since Dec. 15th, Thornton leads the NHL with 44 points as he’s been the catalyst for the Sharks in their turn around.
Meanwhile, his running mate in Joe Pavelski has continued to be a strong leader in his first season as captain. Pavelski was solid again in February with four goals and eight assists during the month as he leads San Jose with 29 goals and 61 points.
But it hasn’t just been offensively where the Sharks have had a very good month as Martin Jones has anchored the San Jose defense.
Jones appeared in 13 of the 14 games during the month amassing an 8-4-1 record with a 2.14 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage. After stumbling a bit during the months of November and December, Jones has picked up his play in backstopping the Sharks resurgence.
While the performance of the boys in teal was certainly encouraging, there is still plenty of work to be done with 20 games remaining. San Jose has their sights set on the top spot in the Pacific Division as they look to unseat their SoCal rivals.
Next: Pacific Division Stock Report: Sharks Remain In Division Race
It’s been an encouraging sign to see the Sharks steady play in 2016, especially considering how far this team and organization has come from where they were at this time last year.