\u201cIt\u2019s not dark yet, but it\u2019s getting there,\u201d as the Bob Dylan song goes.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But the Sharks, stymied by Dustin Wolf, went into the final frame tied at one apiece.<\/p>\n
This is where playoff teams take over. And this is where the San Jose Sharks\u2019 many flaws were exposed.<\/p>\n
An early third period Connor Zary strike, off what head coach Ryan Warsofsky called a \u201cterrible\u201d Will Smith line change, highlighted one flaw, the skilled Sharks\u2019 relative inexperience.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Connor Zary \u2014 JD Young (@MyFryHole) February 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Zary goal, also, might have also been one that Yaroslav Askarov would like back, highlighting another flaw. Askarov wasn\u2019t bad tonight, but Wolf was better. It\u2019s been a while since the talented 23-year-old netminder, navigating his first season as the Sharks\u2019 starter, has been consistently good.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And that’s why he’s HIM! pic.twitter.com\/JzYljmJ61a<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt, the Sharks organization\u2019s blueline depth is lagging far behind that of their forward group. There\u2019s not a bona fide playoff-caliber defense between the NHL and AHL, not yet.<\/p>\n Finally, Mikael Backlund scored an empty-netter for good measure, off a Macklin Celebrini turnover.<\/p>\n This was not the San Jose Sharks superstar\u2019s finest effort, but obviously, he\u2019s just come back from a grueling Olympics, physically and emotionally, and needed a pick-up, which his teammates could not provide.<\/p>\n The Sharks simply don\u2019t have enough horses around Celebrini yet: They\u2019re 1-11-2 when he doesn\u2019t put up a point.<\/p>\n San Jose does have two games in hand on the two wild card playoff teams, the Utah Mammoth and Seattle Kraken, and they\u2019re just five points behind the Kraken, which seems smaller when you consider the games in hand.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) February 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Warsofsky says Misa was probably #SJSharks<\/a> best forward tonight<\/p>\n
2-1 #Flames<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/PKnOr8zTWc<\/a><\/p>\n