CHICAGO \u2014 The San Jose Sharks showed their two faces on Wednesday night, in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n
At times this season, like for most of their 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday, they\u2019re a group capable of playing a direct, playoff-worthy game.<\/p>\n
They did so for 40 minutes, defending hard and stifling a sleepy-looking Blackhawks squad with their forecheck. At that point, the Sharks were up 2-1, and per Natural Stat Trick, had outchanced the home team 10-6 at 5-on-5.<\/p>\n
And then, the irresponsible San Jose side that flamed out and missed the playoffs showed up in the third period. Careless with the puck and lax defensively, they allowed four unanswered goals.<\/p>\n
For a number of the San Jose Sharks youngsters, it was a Jekyll and Hyde performance. Hopefully, next year, there\u2019s a lot more Jekyll than Hyde.<\/p>\n
Yaroslav Askarov, for example, made back-to-back brilliant saves on Ilya Mikheyev in the first period, including a penalty shot\u2026and then he surrendered a soft bad-angle bid to Sam Rinzel to close the second period.<\/p>\n
Macklin Celebrini has enjoyed a Hart Trophy-worthy campaign, but it was his blind pass up the middle that Connor Bedard jumped on to go the other way, finding Louis Crevier to tie the game. <\/p>\n
Sam Dickinson killed play after play in the first period, but then fell asleep on Crevier attacking the net, on what should\u2019ve been a routine 3-on-3 backcheck.<\/p>\n
Luca Cagnoni had his best offensive period in the NHL in the opening frame\u2026and then lost Tyler Bertuzzi on a corner pin, before Bertuzzi hit Crevier on the blueline for the 4-2 bomb.<\/p>\n
Those are just some of the young players who need to find a little more consistency and gain more understanding of how to play with momentum, yes, even franchise star Celebrini. I\u2019m focused, by the way, on the youth, because they\u2019re most likely to be able to improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one is a kick in the gut, because we should know by now,\u201d San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about enough of the momentum shifts in games and when to simplify it and when to be a mature team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just a little more consistency this year, and the Sharks would\u2019ve made the playoffs for the first time in seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnderstand that really, we\u2019ve controlled most of the game the first two periods, let\u2019s go put zeroes in the third and we win a hockey game,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cAnd until we do that, we won\u2019t make another step.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, they\u2019re going home early, wondering what could\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n
Michael Misa<\/p>\n
Misa, on playing with momentum:<\/p>\n
[Warsofsky\u2019s] definitely right about that. We definitely got to find times when they have the momentum, make sure we\u2019re playing well defensively. And then, when we have the momentum, we got to be on the attack. I thought we were for the majority of that game, but yeah, came up short.<\/p>\n
Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n
Warsofsky: “This one is a kick in the gut, because we should know by now. To be honest with it, we should know by now, we’ve talked about enough of the momentum shifts in games and when to simplify it and when to be a mature team and understand that really, we’ve controlled most\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Collin Graf<\/p>\n Luca Cagnoni<\/p>\n Cagnoni & Warsofsky thought, 1st half of the game, was most comfortable offensively that Luca’s looked in NHL<\/p>\n Cagnoni: “I’m just trying to do what I’ve been doing down in the A all year, just trying to produce, set up guys, or give myself a look thought, I found some open ice\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t