DALLAS \u2014 The San Jose Sharks are facing lots of reality checks recently.<\/p>\n
This was a different sort of splash of water to the face, in a closer-than-the-score 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.<\/p>\n
Two things stood out, as the Sharks fell back to 13-13-3.<\/p>\n
In the first period, the Sharks were a step behind from the drop of the puck, ceding the first seven shots and a Jason Robertson power play goal through the first 14 minutes of action.<\/p>\n
What I didn\u2019t like was, I wouldn\u2019t call it a refusal, but when the game\u2019s not going your way and your east-west passes aren\u2019t connecting, I believe a more mature team plays more north-south. San Jose didn\u2019t do that, going for a steady diet of passes into the slot that a disciplined Dallas squad was turning away.<\/p>\n
Finally, on their fourth shot of the game, 28 minutes in, the Sharks finally broke through, by going north-south (or south-north) and crashing the net.<\/p>\n
Graf gets us tied! \ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/uR3rmPwrYz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYeah, just simplify our game, sometimes,\u201d Graf said, on the message from the Sharks\u2019 coaching staff. \u201cObviously, things weren\u2019t going our way last game and we weren\u2019t generating a whole lot today, so I think it\u2019s just trying to get pucks to the net.\u201d<\/p>\n No one is saying that Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith and William Eklund and company shouldn\u2019t try to make east-west plays, but that \u201csimplify our game, sometimes\u201d lesson is still being learned. There\u2019s a time and a place for that.<\/p>\n Second thing that stood out, in a 1-1 standoff midway into the third period, the Sharks weren\u2019t able to pick their defensive game up in the clutch.<\/p>\n In almost one-on-one scenarios, Sam Steel beat Timothy Liljegren, then Mikko Rantanen smoked Ty Dellandrea, to give the Stars a 3-1 lead, 5:43 apart.<\/p>\n Frankly, there\u2019s a talent disparity here: Liljegren, albeit talented, is miscast as a high-leverage defender on a shallow Sharks\u2019 defense, and Rantanen is Rantanen.<\/p>\n In any game, even the deepest team will face some mismatches, of course, but lest San Jose\u2019s 9-5-1 November and Yaroslav Askarov\u2019s .944 Save % that month fooled you, the still-rebuilding Sharks still don\u2019t have the depth to compete with the best teams in the league on a regular basis, in both maturity and defensive talent.<\/p>\n Now the Stars didn\u2019t eviscerate the Sharks like the Washington Capitals or Colorado Avalanche did, but to quote Orlov after the Caps\u2019 7-1 rout, \u201cThink for [this] game, adults play against kids?\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n Warsofsky says that Graf was #SJSharks<\/a> best player tonight<\/p>\n