Sharks current record: 17-48-8 (.288)
Sharks projected record: 19-54-9 (.288)
NHL record for worst season in 82-game history: 14-57-11 (.238)

Our Sharks Sterility Stare is just a few weeks from its conclusion, but after last Saturday night’s in-person experience watching the team, we feared shame. The San Jose Sharks took a 4-0 lead at home against the second-worst team in the league, the Chicago Blackhawks, and proceeded to blow the game, giving up the tying goal with under a minute left in regulation and then losing just 18 seconds into overtime. Brutal, again.

Loyal readers know the Sharks have made a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory this season, but when we saw it in person, there was both disgust and relief—the former for obvious reasons and the latter for historical reasons. How do you blow a 4-goal lead at home to a terrible team? By being pretty darn terrible yourself, obviously. When San Jose lost two more times last week by a combined 9-4 margin …

We honestly wondered if they’d win another game this year. Alas, the Sharks pulled a rabbit out of their collective hats tonight, right before Easter, with a 4-0 win in St. Louis against a team pushing for a postseason berth. Shocking, we know. But San Jose goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood is back from injury, and he earned his second shutout of this long season while turning away 35 shots on goal. The Sharks?

They had just 20 shots on goal in the usual inequitable distribution of opportunity. Thus, San Jose broke a 9-game losing streak by winning for just the second time in the last 20 games. Now, with only 9 games left in the regular season, some realities need to be noted: first, the Sharks won’t finish with the worst record in an 82-game season, and second, the team has all but secured the worst record in the NHL for this season.

Good news all around, as hopefully the San Jose franchise can land the top pick in the draft and turn the organizational fortunes around overnight. We won’t hold our breath—after all, there is a lottery for that top pick now, stupidly. But it would be nice to get an impact player who can be a centerpiece of the Sharks roster for the next 10-15 years come summertime, huh? San Jose has never been a lucky team, so … yeah.

As we discussed last week, there are still 3 games on the schedule the Sharks might have a decent chance at winning, so maybe Blackwood can help San Jose get some more points in the standings. Although it’s all academic now, for the organization will not end up “historically bad” … and that was the point of this whole miniseries this winter. Amen to that as Easter Sunday approaches (and no, we’re not that spiritually sporty!)