The San Jose Sharks needed 12 games and just over three weeks to earn their fourth victory of the season last year. But as they get ready to face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, the Sharks, despite some forgettable play, own a modest 4-3-0 record.

They might not be above .500 without the stellar play of goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.

A week after a 24-save overtime win over the St. Louis Blues, Nedeljkovic was terrific against the Nashville Predators, making 28 saves in regulation, four more in overtime, and two more in the shootout in a wild 3-2 win at Bridgestone Arena.

“He was unbelievable,” Sharks forward Will Smith said of Nedeljkovic after Thursday’s game. “He won that game for us. He was unbelievable all night, and we always feel comfortable with him back there.”

The Sharks needed a standout effort from Nedeljkovic, who now has a .933 save percentage, after some uneven performances from Yaroslav Askarov.

So, should Nedeljkovic get most of the starts for the Sharks over the next little while? Let’s hold that thought.

Per Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks have been one of the worst teams in the NHL so far this season at allowing high-danger chances. Perhaps Askarov’s .848 save percentage in five starts partially reflects those defensive struggles.

Still, there have been times when Askarov needed a big save and didn’t deliver.

When the Sharks trailed by a goal late in the second period of Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins at SAP Center, Pavel Zacha was wide open when he zipped a shot past Askarov to give his team a two-goal lead going into the third.

Who knows what would have happened over the final 20 minutes if Askarov had made that save? As it was, the Sharks lost 6-3 as Askarov, starting for the fifth time in six games to help him get accustomed to a No. 1 goalie’s workload, stopped just 20 of 25 shots.

Nedeljkovic has been a solid pro throughout his NHL career, and getting him from the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer for a 2028 third-round draft pick – and signing him to an extension in March — were seemingly shrewd moves by general manager Mike Grier.

But Nedeljkovic’s save percentage on one day’s rest in nine games since the start of the 2022-23 season is only .873. In March, when Askarov was out with a lower-body injury, Nedeljkovic’s save percentage in six games over 13 days was a less-than-stellar .867, and the Sharks went 2-4-0 in that time.

It’s unclear whether that means the Sharks, if they factor those numbers in, go back to Askarov at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday. Certainly, after Thursday, it would be tough to sit Nedeljkovic against one of his former teams.

It’s also safe to assume one goalie will start against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday and the other will face the Montreal Canadiens the next night.

What matters is what the Sharks do over the next month or two. Nedeljkovic struggles when he plays every other day, and Askarov, aside from his tremendous play last November, doesn’t seem consistent enough to handle a heavy workload at this stage of his still-burgeoning career.

So the Sharks have to find some balance. Don’t just try to ride the so-called ‘hot hand’; map out starts, well in advance, so Askarov, the goalie of the future, is challenged but not overloaded, and Nedeljkovic plays more than once a week.

That may bring out the best in both for the long haul.

OTHER THOUGHTS

DEFENSEMEN STEP UP: Defenseman Sam Dickinson was on the ice when Predators winger and future Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos scored with less than a second left in regulation time to tie the game 2-2. But that shouldn’t take away from what was one of Dickinson’s best NHL games.

With Darnell Nurse out with an upper-body injury, Dickinson, paired with Jacob Trouba, finished with a career-high 24:39 of ice time. He killed penalties, blocked a team-high five shots, played 1:35 of overtime, and, as a sign of the trust he’s earned from coach Ryan Warsofsky this season, got 10:06 of third-period ice time in a close game.

There’s still work to be done, particularly offensively, but this is the kind of progress the Sharks wanted to see from Dickinson in his second NHL season.

Michael Kesselring also played his best game of the season, assisting on Smith’s third-period goal for his first point as a Shark, while forming an effective pair with Dmitry Orlov.

THE ‘UNC’ LINE: The line of thirty-somethings, Alexander Wennberg, Tyler Toffoli, and Mason Marchment, has been solid through two games. Some on social media have dubbed them the ‘UNC’ line for their ages relative to most other Sharks forwards, but they’ve outchanced their opponents 8-5 over two games and have had several defensive zone starts.

The trio on Thursday scored the Sharks’ first goal 5:30 into the first period: after a forecheck, Toffoli took a pass from Wennberg behind the net and found a driving Marchment in front for a 1-0 lead.

It should be an interesting line to watch for, however long it lasts.