The San Jose Sharks will figure it out.<\/p>\n
But maybe not this year?<\/p>\n
The Sharks lost 6-3 to the Nashville Predators again, repeating the same score from their Mar. 24 defeat at Bridgestone Arena.<\/p>\n
San Jose is now two points behind Nashville for the last wild card in the West, two teams to leapfrog. They do have a game in hand on both the Preds and Los Angeles Kings.<\/p>\n
These losses to Nashville \u2014 tonight was Team Teal\u2019s 15th-straight to the Predators, dating back to Nov. 2019 \u2014 might ultimately be the difference between the playoffs or not.<\/p>\n
A lot of the Sharks\u2019 youth struggled in the postseason-like atmosphere tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentally, you gotta be ready. Number one,\u201d San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said, alluding to falling behind 3-0 in the first period. \u201cAnd two, physically, you got to be ready. You got to be physical. You got to get into people. You can\u2019t play at the end of your stick. And we had some guys playing at the end of their stick tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Smith, for example, had difficulty with the puck and pace, just swallowed up at times by an aggressive Predators PK: He\u2019s also just 21 and has a history of clutch performances on the biggest stages. He\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n
Igor Chernyshov was replaced on the top line by Collin Graf and hasn\u2019t been at his best in back-to-back games: The power winger is also, like his ex-Saginaw Spirit teammate Michael Misa, a rookie, still learning how to be consistent in the best league in the world.<\/p>\n
Misa skated just 10:26 at even strength, as Warsofsky leaned heavily on Macklin Celebrini (18:56) and Alex Wennberg (15:07) in the biggest game of the season (so far): He\u2019s also just 19 and has flashed all the makings of a top two-way center, one day.<\/p>\n
Yaroslav Askarov surrendered five goals on 33 shots. Both he and ex-teammate Juuse Saros were left out to dry by leaky defenses, but the veteran Finn came up with more timely stops. That said, this is Askarov\u2019s first season as a starter, and he made his share of clutch saves. His team has got to be much better in front of him, too.<\/p>\n
Smith, Chernyshov, Misa, and Askarov are also all essentially first or second-year players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s their first time going through this type of hockey game,\u201d Warsofsky said, speaking up for the younger Sharks. \u201cThis is not even close to the playoffs. [But] that was pretty close to the playoffs as far as a regular season game goes. So a lot of teaching moments that we\u2019ll use to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The San Jose Sharks will figure it out.<\/p>\n
But maybe not this year? And that\u2019s okay, as long as they do eventually.<\/p>\n
Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n
Warsofsky, on O’Reilly GWG: “We don’t get a shot through on the point. It comes back. It’s a 2-on-2, it’s a nothing really play. He actually puts it in to probably get off the ice, and sees that they get the puck back. It’s an easy cover for us. We just don’t defend the middle of\u2026<\/p>\n