It’s been three months since our last NHL Saturday miniseries column, and with the new regular season kicking off this week, it’s time to check in with the San Jose Sharks. When we last discussed Los Tiburones, they had fallen short of the postseason despite posting a “winning” record (39-35-8) for the first time since before Covid. Yet they had struck lottery gold, landing the No. 2 overall pick for the second year in a row after nabbing Macklin Celebrini with the No. 1 overall slot in 2024. So … now what?!
Well, San Jose did the right thing and grabbed Swedish phenom Ivar Stenberg, while also upgrading the roster in many different ways—thus raising expectation for this coming campaign as the official return of the franchise in restoration of its former glory. The team opened its season at the Shark Tank on Thursday night against the once-mighty Florida Panthers, the Stanley Cup champions from 2024 and 2025, and when the home squad took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, it all looked super.
Alas …
It did not last, as the Panthers scored late in the second to reduce the lead to just two goals heading into the final period, and despite all the offseason improvements, machinations, and practice, the Sharks just did exactly what had been nagging them for the past two seasons: they blew the lead. Florida scored twice in the space of 17 seconds to tie it up with about five minutes left in regulation, sending the game to overtime when it should have been over after 60 minutes. New season, but the same ol’ Sharks, yo.
Sure, San Jose won the game in overtime, unlike last year’s home opener, but again, this is not the sign of a mentally tough team ready to make a deep postseason push. We know it was just the first game, although it’s hard to wonder just what Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky does with his team behind closed doors. The roster may be a year older now, but it’s clear it’s barely wiser than it was last year when the team just kept blowing lead after lead in the third period, to the point the opponents had no fear at all.
But again, a win is a win … right?
Well, guess what happened in the second game of the season tonight, again at home in San Jose, against the hated Los Angeles Kings? Yes, you guessed it: the Sharks blew a big lead, again. Up 3-1 in the second, they gave up a power-play goal with two seconds left in that frame to only go into the final 20 minutes ahead by one goal. Then, after scoring themselves to go up 4-2 in the third, the hometown boys gave up two goals in less than five minutes to find themselves tied once more and again heading to OT.
It’s almost as if they didn’t learn an effing thing from Thursday night. Scratch the “almost”—the Sharks did not learn anything, as usual, again. So, we ask, what exactly constitutes “coaching” here for Warsofsky? The puck stops on his desk, because it’s clearly not being stopped on the ice. Forget the fact San Jose once again escaped in overtime with another victory; that’s beside the point, as we all know the role luck and misfortune can play in extra time. This is just pathetic that the team just can’t close the door, still.
In his age-24 season now, it’s clear goaltender Yaroslav Askarov doesn’t have enough cajones to inspire any sort of apprehension in the opponents at all with a game on the line in the third period. Even if it’s just two games, he’s still the same extremely flawed backstop he has been for his last 60 games prior to the start of this season. The improved defenseman corps was supposed to help the goaltenders in teal, but we see no evidence of that yet despite seemingly significant upgrades in experience and talent there.
We repeat again that, just as in baseball, the worst thing that can happen to a young team trying to establish itself is blowing leads late in a game. The only real positives here are the overtime hustle and results, as San Jose is off the schneid early this year after going winless to start the last three seasons for extended lengths: in 2023, the Sharks lost their first five games, for example. In 2024, they lost their first 11 contests, and in 2025, San Jose lost its first nine matchups, too. Thank goodness for no fourpeats there!
The kids won’t have to dig themselves out of an icy hole this season if they want to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2019. This has been longest stretch of futility in franchise history, by far, and the fans deserve better. But it’s not going to happen if Askarov, Warsofsky, and everyone else don’t learn how to clamp down in the third period with a lead and secure “easier” wins in regulation on the regular. The more the Sharks blow leads consistently, the less energy they’ll have in the tank come spring.
Mark our words … again.
