Playing the last game of a 6-game road trip, it would have been easy for the Sharks to pack it in. Entering play on Thursday night, the Sharks opponent, the St Louis Blues, have gone 5-1-1 since inserting former Shark Jim Montgomery as head coach. All the cards were stacked against them but the Sharks found a way to grind out a tough 4-3 win over the Blues at Enterprise Center. Macklin Celebrini had 2 goals and an assist in the victory to help San Jose secure 6 of 12 standings points on the trip.

After getting their tails kicked in during a Florida swing over the weekend, the Sharks headed north to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. Following the trade of goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and forward Givani Smith on Monday it would have been easy for the Sharks to feel sorry for themselves, but head coach Ryan Warsofsky emphasized that trades are part of the business and the campaign marches on. With a focus on defense, the Sharks turned in a better effort against a Hurricanes team that has struggled their last 5 games, but the result was still the same. Carolina overcame a 3rd period deficit to beat San Jose 3-2 at Lenovo Center.

The Sharks have seen enough of the state of Florida. After spending the last 4 days in the sunshine state, they are more than happy to not spend any more time in the land of citrus and theme parks. Their 2-game strip to the state resulted in a pair of lopsided loses that negated some of the positive vibes the team had built over the pervious two weeks. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers gave the Sharks a crash course in championship caliber hockey by beating the Sharks 3-1 at Amerant Bank Arena.

One year ago, the Sharks traveled to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning and limped out of Amelie Arena after losing 6-0. A year later, many of the names on Shark jerseys are different, but the California boys endured a worse outcome on Thursday night as the Lightning blitzed them in a 8-1 pasting. Tampa Bay jumped on the Sharks for 5 goals in the 1st period, then added 3 more for good measure to snap the Sharks 3-game winning streak.

The Sharks made their way east to take on the Eastern Conference's best team in the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night. San Jose played one of their more consistent games of the season, going toe-to-toe with the Capitals throughout the night. San Jose capitalized on a power play chance in overtime to stun Washington 2-1.

The Sharks picked up right where they left off on Saturday night. After beating the Seattle Kraken 8-5 on Friday afternoon, San Jose jumped on the Kraken for a 4-2 victory at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Four different Sharks scored for the Sharks and Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves to earn his 5th win of the season. The Sharks jumped out to a 4-0 lead then held on for their 3rd victory in the last 4 games.

Fans of 1980's NHL play got a glimpse of what that form of hockey was like at SAP Center on Friday afternoon. The Sharks and visiting Seattle Kraken combined for 13 goals in a game devoid of much defense. The Sharks cashed in with 8 goals in the game beat the Kraken by 3 in a wild matinee affair. 7 Sharks recorded 2 points in the game including defenseman Jake Walman who added 2 goals.

Sometimes the stats line doesn't tell the whole story. On a night when the Sharks out-shoot their opponent 38 to 11, it's unrealistic to this they won by a big margin. that wasn't the case on Thanksgiving-eve as they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Otawa Senators at SAP Center. The Sharks haven't been great at keeping the opposing shot totals low, but they held Ottawa to single digit shot counts in each period. Those limited shots all seemed to be meaningful though as the Sharks couldn't build off their big win on Monday night over Los Angeles.

It's no secret that wins have been hard to come by for the Sharks this season. So it was a breath of fresh air to see them pound an opponent for once. Make that opponent the Los Angeles Kings and it was like Christmas in November. San Jose erupted for 5 goals in the 3rd period to beat the Kings 7-2 at SAP Center on Monday. It was the second win in three tries over the Kings for the Sharks, but it was an opportunity to win a game by a healthy margin for the first time this season. The Sharks were led by the youngsters, including Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Yaroslav Askarov.

With the celebratory mood of Joe Thornton's number retirement ceremony still fresh in the SAP Center air, the Sharks let a sellout crowd down on Saturday night with a disappointing 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Facing a Sabres team that played an overtime game less than 24 hours earlier, the Sharks blew a 2-1 3rd period lead, allowing the fatigued Sabres to score three 3rd period goals. It was another reminder that this version of the Sharks is miles away from the Thornton heyday rosters.

You could describe Joe Thornton many ways. Listening to all the things former teammates had to say on Saturday left no doubt that there are few people like him. The Sharks organization and the community got a chance to celebrate the legend on Saturday afternoon, as Thornton's #19 was raised to the SAP Center rafters in a ceremony that will be remembered for a long time. In typical Thornton style, he made the day about his family and teammates.

Joe Thornton. First off, Joe is cool. Very cool. Not only was he good at what he did, he was at ease and made other people feel good and at ease, too. That is very hard in any line of endeavor. Where to begin? For me it was November 2005. I'm in the Boston area for work and the Bruins are playing the Penguins that night. The NHL owners locked out the players and cancelled the 2004-05 season so there was not much to talk about for months other than the Pens' first-overall draft pick Sidney Crosby.

This Saturday, the Sharks will retire the number 19, which of course was Joe Thornton's number. While I usually don't think much of number retirements, this one is on the mark. Thornton has been the greatest Shark ever. I remember hearing the shocking news, on November 30, 2005, that he'd been sent to the Sharks, for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart, and Wayne Primeau. It seemed as if the Boston Bruins' GM at the time just wanted to send Thornton some place far away, where Thornton couldn't come back to haunt them. Thornton immediately starred for the Sharks, racking up 92 points in just Sharks 58 games that season.

The Yaroslav Askarov era has started in San Jose. The much heralded goaltending prospect made his Sharks debut as San Jose wrapped up a quick 2-game road trip in St Louis on Thursday night. Askarov made 29 saves but the game was book-ended with a pair of pucks crossing the Sharks goal line, one in regulation and one in the shootout. San Jose would fall 3-2 in the shootout. Alexander Wennberg scored a pair of goals, including one with 8.8 seconds left in regulation to get the game to the shootout.

The Sharks kicked off a quick 2-game road trip on Wednesday night, but an absentee gap in the game would cost them as they dropped a 5-2 decision to the host Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. San Jose surrendered a pair of goals in the middle peroid, which backed them into a corner that they couldn't fight their way out of. The Sharks dropped their 11th game in regulation and 15th overall in 21 games this season.

The Sharks have had issues scoring this season but they may have provided a glimpse of the future on Monday night as the Sharks held on for a 5-4 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings at SAP Center. William Eklund scored a pair of goals and Macklin Celebrini potted the game winner 46 seconds into the overtime period on a highlight reel play.

The Sharks wrapped up their 4-game road trip with a frustrating 4-3 loss in the shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins. San Jose got off to a slow start, allowing the Penguins to grab a 3-0 lead. San Jose fought back to first get the game to overtime and then to the shootout before dropping the game in the 5th round of the skills competition.

As the Sharks continue to develop their identity along with their gaggle of young players, the steps forward will be offset by steps backward. Thursday night was a step backwards for a San Jose lineup that played a decent opening period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, but they followed that up with an awful 2nd period that would cost them a 3-2 defeat to the defending Easter Conference Champions.

The Sharks had little time to relish their big win over New Jersey on Sunday night as a date with the Philadelphia Flyers was on Monday's schedule as the Sharks continue with their 4-game road trip. San Jose was late out of the gate, allowing the Flyers to establish a 3-0 lead. They found their legs and battled back to get the game to overtime, but they missed on a golden opportunity to win in the extra period when the Flyers took a penalty at the end of regulation. The Sharks didn't score and Philadelphia won it in the shootout 4-3.

The New Jersey Devils entered Sunday's game with the Sharks having scored 20 goals in their last 4 games. The Devils were however playing on less than 24 hours rest, while the Sharks hadn't played since last Thursday. The Sharks made a single goal stand up in a 1-0 win after goaltender shutout his former team with a 44 save performance.

There are those nights when you just don't have what it takes. That was Thursday night for the Sharks, who dropped a 4-2 decision to the Minnesota Wild. San Jose faced a lineup that has been built over time, led by superstar Kirill Kaprizov who recorded 3 assists on the night. The Sharks were overmatched from the opening faceoff, learning there is still loads of development on the to do list.

The Sharks got a shot in the arm with the return of Macklin Celebrini on Tuesday night as San Jose hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Center. The spotlight has been in the rookie forward but on this night goaltender Vitek Vanecek was the man of the hour. Vanecek made a career high 50 saves to help the Sharks take a tight 2-1 overtime win.

When Mike Grier and Ryan Warsofsky drew up the kind of wins they expected their team to win, Thursday night may have been a blueprint for that plan. Playing in a rare home game on Halloween, the Sharks had one of the young prospects show his teeth by scoring the first goal of the game and then bag the game winner, while their defense held off a tenacious opponent in a gritty 3rd period to take a tight 3-2 win.

The Sharks made a trade on Wednesday, sending defenseman Matt Benning to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with a conditional 2025 3rd round draft pick and a 2026 6th round pick in exchange for defenseman Timothy Liljegren. The Sharks get a younger blueliner who was a former 1st round pick (17th overall) of the Maple Leafs in 2017.

On paper, Tuesday nights Sharks match up with the Los Angeles Kings favored the guests from Southern California. San Jose hasn't been exactly lighting it up and their first win of the year less than 24 hours earlier on the road setup a tall order for the Sharks. The Kings hadn't played since Saturday and sit in the 5th spot in the Western Conference. So go figure when the Sharks outplayed the Kings in the 3rd period and sweated out a 4-2 victory to extend their win streak to two games.

When the Sharks became the first team in NHL history to open a season winless through their first 9 games in consecutive seasons, it was easy to throw in the towel. When they went down 4-1 to the Utah Hockey Club on Monday night it was almost a given that the streak would reach 10 games. San Jose surprised everyone in Salt Lake City with an improbable comeback that included 3 goals in a span of 110 seconds late in the contest, followed by a game-winning goal in overtime to take a 5-4 decision.

The Sharks painful start to the season continued down the path of misery on Thursday night. Their Southern California sojourn ended with their 8th loss of the season and second to start their 4-game road trip. The Los Angeles blitzed the Sharks in the opening period by scoring 3 goals in the frame, then held on for a 3-2 victory after a late push by San Jose. The Sharks continue to struggle as they try and lose the distinction of being the only team in the NHL without a win this season.

Over the past two October's, the Sharks are a combined 0-13-3 after they dropped a frustrating 3-1 decision to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. San Jose lost all 9 games in the opening month of play last year, and have started their current campaign with a 7th consecutive defeat. That bad news is magnified by the fact that the latest loss came to a team that isn't expected to make any noise in the Pacific Division this season.

It took last season's Sharks team 12 games to win their first game of the season. This year's roster may be on their may to matching that underachievement. The Sharks hit the halfway point of that mark by dropping a 4-1 decision to the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center on Sunday night. The Sharks misfired on a handful of power play chances which took the pressure off a Colorado team that has been slow out of the gate themselves.

The Sharks wrapped up their 3-game road trip on Friday night with a game less than 24 hours after losing to the Chicago Blackhawks. While it may be hard to understand how players can have tired legs 5 games into the new season, but the Sharks played like they had tired legs tied together. The host Winnipeg Jets scored 4 times on the power play and pummeled the Sharks 8-3 at Canada Life Centre in the most lopsided contest of the season.

The Sharks did not win their first game last season until their 6th contest of the campaign. They dropped their 4th straight to open the current season with a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night following a lifeless start that would doom them early. San Jose gave up the first 3 goals of the season and sputtered the rest of the night in catch up mode.

The Sharks hit the road for the first time this season, starting with a stop in Dallas on Tuesday night. Having won their fist three games to start the season, Dallas looked to extend their winning ways against a team still learning how to compete in the NHL. San Jose played a controlled game, extending a 2-2 tie to overtime and eventually a shootout before dropping the game in the skills competition.

After a wild opening night loss the Sharks tightened things up defensively on Saturday night as the Anaheim Ducks came calling. That focus allowed them to limit the opposition's scoring, but that defensive focus also translated to a lack of offensive chances that they could capitalize on. In the end, Anaheim was able to solve the Sharks defensive posturing and hold on for a 2-0 win in their season debut.

The Sharks could not hold onto a three-goal lead Thursday night and ended up losing in OT to the Saint Lous Blues in the season opener. Still, a great time was had by the fans in the stands, for the most part. At least that’s how I saw it, despite the Shars wilting late in the game.

The Macklin Celebrin and Will Smith era is underway in San Jose. After the Sharks selected the pair with their first draft picks in each of the last two NHL Draft events, San Jose fans finally got a chance to see the offensive pairing on NHL ice in a game that counted. Celebrini did not disappoint, but the rest of the Sharks wasted a big 2-point night by the rookie. San Jose failed to protect a 3-goal lead, allowing the St Louis Blues to convert three scoring chances in the 3rd period before Brayden Schenn scored in overtime to stun the SAP Center crowd 5-4 on opening night.

With the start of the 2024-25 NHL Season, the staff writers at LetsGoSharks.com submit their predictions for each division race, playoff qualifiers, conference finalists, conference champions and Stanley Cup Champion. Some surprises, some not so much. Whatever the case, this how we think the season will play out. Check back in June to see how we did.

Sharks General Manager Mike Grier has had a tall task the past two seasons, trying to revive his team from the depths of the NHL's standings basement. It's been tough sailing on the west coast the past four seasons and a botched reset three seasons ago finally forced Grier's hand into diving into a full scale rebuild. The moves Grier has made the last 24 months have been hit or miss, but the move to chasing the rebuild with a youth movement got a big injection of adrenaline when the Sharks acquired goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov on Friday.

The worst kept secret in hockey was exposed on Friday night when the SanJose Sharks selected top prospect Macklin Celebrini with the first overall pick in the NHL Draft. Celebrini has been the consensus number one pick for months and the Sharks used their selection to bring home their former Junior Shark by taking him at the Sphere Las Vegas.