The San Jose Sharks have had the most disappointing beginning in the NHL season, starting with 5-15-1. This disappointing record isn’t the only thing that’s disappointing for this NHL franchise, as throughout the 22 games they’ve played, the San Jose Sharks have given up 90 goals. The Sharks have let up two losses of ten goals or more already. They have secured their spot as last in the league and earned their title as the most embarrassing franchise in the 2023-2024 season thus far.
There are numerous problems with this team, and what better way to start than to look at the goaltending. If your team has a breakdown in the defensive zone, you usually rely on your goaltender to bail you out. For the Sharks, relying on goaltending has been a struggle. In their recent matchup versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Sharks goaltenders, Mackenzie Blackwood and Magnus Corona, gave up ten goals on 35 shots. In another 10-goal loss, the Sharks gave up 33 shots. The lack of goaltending has made even shot totals into blowout games against the Sharks. However, as I mentioned before, defensive breakdowns lead to scoring chances, and the Sharks generate more defensive breakdowns than they do momentum.
Defense is not just for the defensemen to play. Hockey is a two-way game, and just by tuning in to a San Jose Sharks game for a minute or two, you can see that the Sharks don’t play either way. The Sharks lack the defensive effort and conditioning required to win games against good teams, and don’t have the goal-scoring ability to generate anywhere near enough offense to make those games close. The Sharks have only totaled 36 goals this season.
These stats are laughable. The lack of goal-scoring and the average plus-minus for the team demonstrates the horrid ongoing season for the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have no defense and no offense to make up for it. It does not work in a league like the NHL, as everyone can see in the standings right now (the Sharks sit in dead last with three points). For the Sharks to have a shot at the Stanley Cup, they must make significant changes.
