“It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there,” as the Bob Dylan song goes.
The San Jose Sharks, on a four-game losing streak, came out of the Olympic break on Thursday, believing the three weeks off would spark their flickering playoff hopes.
And through two periods, that seemed to be the case, as a more energetic Sharks squad was all over the Calgary Flames. Per Natural Stat Trick, San Jose was dominating 5-on-5 shot attempt share, 39-20, and high-danger chances, 9-4.
But the Sharks, stymied by Dustin Wolf, went into the final frame tied at one apiece.
This is where playoff teams take over. And this is where the San Jose Sharks’ many flaws were exposed.
An early third period Connor Zary strike, off what head coach Ryan Warsofsky called a “terrible” Will Smith line change, highlighted one flaw, the skilled Sharks’ relative inexperience.
This line change appeared to have some part in Warsofsky sitting the 21-year-old point-per-game scorer during a late 6-on-5, when San Jose was down.
Connor Zary
2-1 #Flames pic.twitter.com/PKnOr8zTWc
— JD Young (@MyFryHole) February 27, 2026
The Zary goal, also, might have also been one that Yaroslav Askarov would like back, highlighting another flaw. Askarov wasn’t bad tonight, but Wolf was better. It’s been a while since the talented 23-year-old netminder, navigating his first season as the Sharks’ starter, has been consistently good.
Six minutes later, Nazem Kadri put the nail in the coffin, taking advantage of an unforced Timothy Liljegren turnover to score his second goal of the game.
And that’s why he’s HIM! pic.twitter.com/JzYljmJ61a
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 27, 2026
There’s no doubt, the Sharks organization’s blueline depth is lagging far behind that of their forward group. There’s not a bona fide playoff-caliber defense between the NHL and AHL, not yet.
Finally, Mikael Backlund scored an empty-netter for good measure, off a Macklin Celebrini turnover.
This was not the San Jose Sharks superstar’s finest effort, but obviously, he’s just come back from a grueling Olympics, physically and emotionally, and needed a pick-up, which his teammates could not provide.
The Sharks simply don’t have enough horses around Celebrini yet: They’re 1-11-2 when he doesn’t put up a point.
San Jose does have two games in hand on the two wild card playoff teams, the Utah Mammoth and Seattle Kraken, and they’re just five points behind the Kraken, which seems smaller when you consider the games in hand.
But the Mar. 6 Trade Deadline is also looming. The Sharks have three games before the Deadline, three potential wins that might encourage GM Mike Grier to buy, three potential losses that might force him to sell.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky, on sitting Smith on 6-on-5 and if the “terrible” line change, his word, on the Zary goal was a factor: “The whole game has a lot of factoring into decisions that we make.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) February 27, 2026
Warsofsky says Misa was probably #SJSharks best forward tonight
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) February 27, 2026
Michael Misa
Misa, on Wolf’s 34-save performance:
I thought when we got some traffic in front, it was harder for him to stop, and we had some rebounds off it, but ultimately, we got to probably shoot more.
Timothy Liljegren
Liljegren, on his turnover on Kadri’s second goal:
That was just, overall, a bad play. I was trying to make a quick play up, up to the weak side, but I had time to skate the puck and make a way better play. I don’t think it was bad luck. Was just a very bad play.
Kiefer Sherwood