Only one game remains.
But what a ride it has been.
81 games down, one to go. The San Jose Sharks’ season will come to an end Thursday night. With the LA Kings’ win in Seattle on Monday night, the Sharks were eliminated from the postseason.
The fact that it took 80 games for that to happen shows the tremendous growth of this team.
4/9: Anaheim Ducks // L, 6-1
The Sharks were already in dire straits going into this one. The Ducks proved they wanted it more.
Anaheim put the Sharks under pressure from the opening faceoff, all the way into the final horn. San Jose could not generate any offense. Shakir Mukhamadullin spoiled the shutout bid with eight minutes left in the game.
Mathematically, the Sharks were still alive, but the writing was on the wall.
4/11: Vancouver Canucks // L, 4-3 – SO
I am not one to blame refs for every little thing, but sometimes they call an absolutely horrendous game. This was one of those games.
The score went back and forth throughout the game. Igor Chernyshov had two goals, and Tyler Toffoli added another. With five minutes left in the game, Vincent Desharnais was called for an egregious hooking penalty. The video replay showed a Canuck (cannot remember who it was, apologies) grab Desharnais’ stick.
Then, in overtime, Will Smith was blatantly held while the Sharks were on a power play. No call. Right after that, William Eklund was called for interference while going for a rebound. Terrible, terrible calls late in this one.
In the end, though, the Sharks succumbed to the last-place Canucks in a shootout.
4/13: Nashville Predators // W, 3-2
The Sharks had lost 15 straight against the Predators coming into this game. Two of those losses were direct hits against the Sharks’ playoff hopes.
Credit: San Jose Sharks-Twitter/XChernyshov opened the scoring in the first with a power play goal. Macklin Celebrini scored the other two goals, including the rare empty net game-winner. Despite giving up two goals late, Alex Nedeljkovic played a phenomenal game. He stopped 26 of 28 shots to earn first star of the game honors.
The Sharks played very well throughout this one. If they had shown up like this in the prior two meetings against Nashville, maybe we would be seeing playoff games at the Shark Tank.
4/15: Chicago Blackhawks // L, 5-2
The Sharks started off red hot. They were buzzing in the first period, which included a Mario Ferraro goal. When Michael Misa scored a power play goal in the second, it looked like this one would be a cake walk. Chicago had three shots on goal and was taking undisciplined penalties.
Apparently, the Sharks thought they could coast at that point. Chicago scored five unanswered goals. Five! If there is one thing the Sharks need to learn for next season, it is to play a full 60-minute game.
As disappointing as the last month or so has been, this season has been a success for the Sharks. Celebrini has emerged as a future face of the NHL. Prospects like Chernyshov, Misa, and Sam Dickinson have developed in a year when the Sharks were not supposed to be competitive. Then you have prospects like Luca Cagnoni and Quentin Musty who could see significant time with the Sharks next season.
The good vibes from this year will be even better next year, with a more competitive team looking to take the next step.
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. The future is teal.
