Last night was tough for the San Jose Sharks; they were outclassed in every way versus an experienced and structured Hurricanes team that is undefeated early in the 2025-26 season.
The Sharks and Hurricanes were both getting chances in the first, but neither team found the back of the net. Hurricanes backup Brandon Bussi made some excellent stops that kept the Sharks off the board early.
In the 2nd, the Hurricanes got on the board after a slapper from Sean Walker beat Nedeljkovic. After William Eklund tied the game 1-1, the Sharks faced pushback from the Hurricanes, resulting in two Hurricanes goals before the end of the 2nd.
Down 3-1, the Sharks had a chance to show some fight and, at the very least, make the game interesting, but they were held without a shot in the 3rd period. And largely lacked any compete or care in the final frame of the game.
Nobody expected the Sharks to beat the Hurricanes, who are a much better team. The Sharks are still a young team trying to find consistency, but the level of effort tonight is concerning, especially after multiple days of rest and three games into the year. The Sharks were downright sloppy in all aspects of the game. Not recording a shot on net in the 3rd period is downright unacceptable at any level of hockey.
This game was a rough one, in particular for Sam Dickinson, the young defender, who made multiple critical errors, perhaps the biggest being on the 2nd goal against, where he had an opportunity to clear the puck out of the crease but took too long to make a play and ended up in the net along with the puck.
Dickinson is going to have his growing pains as a 19-year-old in the NHL. One game does not define him as a player or a prospect, but more nights like these will get him sent back to juniors, and rightfully so. It will be interesting to see how he responds his next time out.
The Sharks' start to the year has been tough; realistically, they could be sitting at 2-1 through 3 games. However, they find themselves winless through 3 games after mental errors cost them late in their games against Vegas and Anaheim. They now find themselves winless through 3 games, continuing the trend from previous seasons. The Sharks cannot allow this season to get out of hand in October again if they want to escape the basement. This weekend's games against Utah and Pittsburgh will be a significant mental test for this Sharks team. If they can get some wins, they can still be in good shape through 5 games.