What to Watch For Tonight: Young San Jose Sharks Trek to Calgary

Special Teams Ups and Downs

The San Jose Sharks special teams have been one of the top units in the league for the past five seasons. Granted, it’s only the preseason with young guys maturing to the professional level and looking to build a reputation. However, there has been some noticeable fluctuation on the penalty kill and power play even with the veteran core present over a handful of preseason games.

The power play has been a work in progress for the last two weeks of training camp. The Sharks have to make some realignments on the man-advantage since Erik Karlsson has joined the squad.

San Jose Sharks

In the short sample size of the preseason, we haven’t seen the primary combination of Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Joe Thornton like the Sharks have been rehearsing at practices. But, we have seen the looks of the second power play group with Kane jumping down to the secondary unit.

The Sharks have yet to score a Power Play goal in ten opportunities, through the first three games. Something is not clicking. Either through bad luck or problematic formations, the Sharks have yet to light the lamp on the Power Play this preseason. The young Sharks tonight have to step up and find a way to bury the puck in the back of the net.

The San Jose Sharks have a short-handed goal this preseason, which came in the 5-4 shootout loss against the Golden Knights. Unlike the power play, the penalty kill has been solid.

San Jose maintains an 83.3% on the penalty kill. Thanks to strong goaltending and the sturdy backbone of the back-end, the Sharks have only surrendered one power play goal which came on  opening night against the Ducks.

The special teams will be at work tonight as this area of expertise has room for improvement. And for any Sharks rookies looking to shine in the spotlight, a persuasive performance in odd-man situations just might elevate the eyes of the Sharks coaching staff.