The Sharks Sterility Stare (Redux) is examining a sore spot today for the San Jose Sharks: shootouts. In the last season-plus combined, the team has posted just a 1-8 record in overtime shootouts. Last week alone, the team lost two shootouts, both on the road in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On Monday night, it was a defeat in Philadelphia, and on Saturday, it was a loss in Pittsburgh. So what gives? Why so bad in shootouts?

San Jose current record for 2024-2025: 5-10-4 (.368)
Sharks projected record for 82 games this season: 28-50-4 (.366)
San Jose record last year (2023-2024): 19-54-9 (.287)
NHL record for worst season in 82-game history: 14-57-11 (.238)

We know the Sharks have challenges on the blue line, and they also have them in net. Yet the San Jose skaters also have some input in the shootout scenarios. And while we know the team is poor in developed talent in all phases, it’s still unreal how bad they are in shootouts. Last season, they had multiple situations where they had repeated chances to win shootouts, and they just kept fumbling away opportunities, again.

First, the team has scored just 45 goals in 19 games this year, which is 28th in the league. Only three skaters have scored more than three goals, so while the San Jose coaching staff should perhaps load up the shootout with those three skaters first, they don’t always do that for reasons they have discerned in their data. Throw in rookie Macklin Celebrini, who has three goals in just seven games, that’s four “aces” to play.

Every time.

Of course, there are good goaltenders on the other side of the shootout equation, and so even the Sharks’ best scorers are not always going to be enough. The San Jose goalies have to step up, too: therein lies another problem. The two netminders have combined for just a .905 save percentage this season so far, which is barely passable. And in a shootout scenario, it becomes tougher to make sure the puck stops there.

The combination of mediocre goaltending and little scoring depth creates problems in shootouts, so the Sharks really should gun for more overtime wins, even if they end up losing instead. Considering that 1-8 record in shootouts, they should take their chances in the five-minute extra sessions: they have a better chance to get the extra point there (6-5 since the start of last season) than they do in the shootout, for sure.