It has been a long time since we’ve seen Mario Ferraro smile this much after a game.

“I’m trying to keep it cool, right?” the long-time San Jose Sharks defenseman said after a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. “Obviously, I’m excited about what I see right now. I really want to push for playoffs.”

Playoffs?!

That’s not a word that has been said in San Jose in November in a long time.

Of course, the Sharks are just 16 games into the season.

“It’s a long season,” Ferraro said. “Personally, from a team standpoint, we know we still got work to do.”

But who could blame the Sharks lifer, part of six straight seasons out of the playoffs, if he’s excited? At 7-6-3, it’s the first time that the perennial cellar-dwellers have been over .500 since they were 28-27-8 on March 22, 2022.

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