BUFFALO — There are levels to the education of the San Jose Sharks.

After the Sharks were left gasping by the dazzling Sabres, 29-5-2 since Dec. 9, in a 6-3 rout, I focused on how San Jose could learn to defend faster. Playing with pace is usually associated with offense but can also apply to defense.

Just for example, slow defensive rotations doomed the Sharks on Jason Zucker’s goal and Jack Quinn’s second, which put the game away for Buffalo. This isn’t even mentioning more obvious mistakes like John Klingberg in no man’s land which led to Quinn’s first or Sam Dickinson failing to take the body in a one-on-one on Beck Malenstyn’s score.

It’s no secret, while the San Jose Sharks defend markedly better as a team that last year, they’re still far from even average: They’ve given up the second-most shots and goals in the NHL.

San Jose will defend competently one day, and probably sooner than later. But after they get there, what next?

Head coach Lindy Ruff, in his post-game press conference, laid out a challenge that his young-and-thrilling Sabres, which the Sharks hope to emulate soon, is facing.

“When you’re up 2-nothing, you don’t have to,” Ruff said bluntly. “We started doing some dumb stuff which gave them some life. We got to get rid of that.”

That’s ‼️90‼️ points on the year for Mack. #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/AgSb416RTC

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 10, 2026

“We invited danger. We made some cross-ice passes in our D-zone. We were in the neutral zone. We brought the puck back into our zone. That led to the beginning of the chaos,” Ruff said. “We gotta to be smarter than that.”

That’s coaching: Even a team with an .833 Points % since Dec. 9 can get better.

And it’s not Ruff being a stickler. It’s one thing to mess around with the Sharks, who are just hoping to stay in the playoff race.

“Our guys love scoring goals. It’s not a bad thing,” Ruff said. “[But] when you’re leading games or you’ve got a good lead, the kid that was on the ice there, 71, we didn’t need to help him out.”

Imagine, instead of No. 71, but it’s No. 29 in the Stanley Cup Final?

“That’s the stuff you’ve got to understand,” Ruff said. “What if that fueled him into the next goal, now all of a sudden, we’re in a 2-2 game?”

On the other side, Warsofsky recognizes San Jose has a ways to go to get where Buffalo is.

“Sometimes, we think we’re working hard, but that’s a whole ‘nother level,” he said of the Sabres. “[That] team works. They skate, they skate to close, they skate in all three zones. They skate with the puck to get on the attack.”

He agreed that Buffalo’s pace was reminiscent of the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, both Stanley Cup contenders who have toyed with San Jose this season.

The Sharks are going to get here one day, on some ridiculous hot streak, fueled by the scoring exploits of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith and Michael Misa…but it’s a reminder that they’ll still have a lot to learn, as the talented-but-untested Sabres still do.

Barclay Goodrow

Goodrow, on how San Jose Sharks can defend faster:

Guys just got to close quicker, whoever’s man has the puck, you got to get on the puck quick, get it stopped up, get support coming over. If you give good players time and space, and they’re able to make plays, cycling around the zone, obviously makes it that much harder to defend.

Alex Wennberg

Wennberg, on Kiefer Sherwood:

Great player. Not only does he score a goal, which is obviously important, but the physicality and energy, just everything around it. Overall, he’s just a great guy in the locker room, as well. It’s been a really good piece to add to us. It’s just fun to see him here for another five years.

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky, on how the San Jose Sharks can produce more offense besides Celebrini and Sherwood:

We got to play inside, get to the net, put pucks to the net. We gotta get more people at the net. And that’s how you score this time of year. We’ve talked about it enough.

Lindy Ruff

Ruff called Orlov’s hit on Thompson “a little bit on the cheap side” because it “cut his legs out”

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 11, 2026