Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
The San Jose Sharks are back in a playoff spot.
It’s their first time since Mar. 14, after a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, their fourth-straight win.
The Sharks are now tied with the Nashville Predators with 79 points, but San Jose has a game in hand.
There are two ways that I look at this triumph.
Credit, of course, to the San Jose Sharks for how they manhandled a sleepy Maple Leafs squad, clearly playing out the string. Toronto looked like a team that had just fired their GM and were playing for a potential lame duck coach. At times, in a clear role reversal from recent history, Team Teal was varsity and the Blue and White was JV.
This also, however, felt like a learning lesson for the Sharks.
This was a game, honestly, that should’ve never been in question late, and was, until Adam Gaudette potted an empty netter. The Leafs looked that zonked out. This was a game that a superior opponent, after San Jose took a 2-0 first-period lead, could’ve come back from.
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