COLUMBUS \u2014 The San Jose Sharks probably aren\u2019t making the playoffs. But if they did it\u2026<\/p>\n
The Sharks have a model in the Columbus Blue Jackets, who they edged 3-2, snapping a six-game losing streak.<\/p>\n
Fun exchange with Warsofsky pre-game \ud83d\ude06<\/p>\n
SP: This Columbus team has won 19 of 27 games. <\/p>\n
RW: Thanks for reminding me. <\/p>\n
SP: When you beat them tonight, then you’ll know that you did something tremendous!<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n San Jose is now four points behind the Nashville Predators for the last wild card spot in the West, with two games in hand, but four teams to leapfrog.<\/p>\n On Jan. 12, Rick Bowness took over the 19-19-7 Blue Jackets. Since then, Columbus has gone 19-5-4.<\/p>\n Before the game, head coach Ryan Warsofsky shared his thoughts about the Jackets\u2019 renaissance and how the Sharks could replicate it. It was an interesting conversation about the psychology of a winning streak.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see it from afar, and then on film, they get a lot of buy-in. I\u2019d say that\u2019s what sticks out for me the most. It\u2019s the way you have to play this time of the year, they\u2019re getting a lot of buy-in from their whole group, from up and down their line-up,\u201d Warsofsky said.<\/p>\n Isn\u2019t buy-in a big part of a coach\u2019s job? No doubt, but also\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt comes with results, right? You start winning some hockey games,\u201d Warsofsky said, \u201cand we had a little bit of that when we were winning games there, before the Deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n Warsofsky is talking about San Jose\u2019s 13-7-0 stretch from Dec. 11 to Jan. 27. Now that\u2019s no 19-5-3, but that was some of the Sharks\u2019 best hockey this season. But\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t start a fire without a spark,\u201d Bruce Springsteen sings in \u201cDancing In the Dark\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a big win? Maybe it\u2019s a winning streak, you get some wins under your belt,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cYou get more buy-in organically through the dressing room.\u201d<\/p>\n For the San Jose Sharks, that spark was clearly the miracle 6-5 OT comeback at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 13.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then when you lose a couple games,\u201d Warsofsky admitted, \u201cyou fight that confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen that recently, especially during the first five games of this just snapped six-game losing streak. San Jose was outscored 28-11 in that stretch.<\/p>\n That’s the San Jose Sharks’ first lead since 1-0 in the first period against the Edmonton Oilers on Mar. 17, by my count, 353:32.<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n So can Igor Chernyshov\u2019s last-minute game-winner be that spark? The Sharks, also, have just played two of their better games this season, the 2-1 OT loss at the St. Louis Blues, followed by tonight\u2019s triumph, that \u201cway you have to play this time of the year\u201d.<\/p>\n Warsofsky elaborated post-game, \u201cThe last two games, we\u2019ve played a little bit more of a direct hockey game, more north, quicker puck play, but going north quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n And now, the Sharks are going home to friendly SAP Center, where they play seven of their last 11 games to end this season. They\u2019re 17-12-5 in San Jose this year.<\/p>\n \u201cYour confidence is going, you get the energy in the building,\u201d Warsofsky said, \u201cyou feed off of that, and you get a little swagger.\u201d<\/p>\n The San Jose Sharks probably aren\u2019t making the playoffs. But from the nadir of this season, the 6-3 loss at the Nashville Predators to begin this road trip, it\u2019s encouraging to see them fight back.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t given up yet. We haven\u2019t quit,\u201d Macklin Celebrini said after the game. \u201cAnything can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n No matter what happens, this has been a successful season, and it\u2019s not just because of Celebrini\u2019s emergence as a superstar.<\/p>\n Collin Graf and Zack Ostapchuk have become reliable NHL forwards. Chernyshov, Will Smith, William Eklund, Michael Misa, and Sam Dickinson have shown significant growth from last year or in-season. Yaroslav Askarov has flashed elite puck-stopping promise.<\/p>\n And they\u2019re all 23-and-under.<\/p>\n The development isn\u2019t just physical either, it\u2019s mental.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve had a lot of growth in this season. It\u2019s funny, we get a lot of flack because we\u2019ve fallen out of the playoff race here a little bit. We\u2019re going to continue to push,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve come a long way from day one, where we wanted to just hang in games, and sometimes not get blown out. To the point where the expectation is for us to win the game 1774767127. That\u2019s a big jump, in my opinion, of where we\u2019ve come this year. We go into games, thinking we can win them.\u201d<\/p>\n Warsofsky may not have won at the NHL yet, but he\u2019s won in both the ECHL and AHL, and took the gold at the 2025 World Championships, so he has some understanding about what winning looks like: \u201cThat takes a while to get to that mindset. I\u2019m proud of the group for doing that, getting over that hump, so we\u2019re in win mode. We gotta continue to build off that.\u201d<\/p>\n Let\u2019s see if the Sharks can do that, clock ticking on their season.<\/p>\n Macklin Celebrini<\/p>\n Celebrini, on Chernyshov’s shot: “We were talking to him about shooting the puck a little bit more. That one, I think was easy, but he’s got a hell of a shot, and we just want him to let ‘er rip a little bit more.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Alex Nedeljkovic<\/p>\n Nedeljkovic, from nearby Parma, says his parents, sisters, brother, two aunts, friends, minor league coaches & some of their kids were all here to watch his win: “It’s always fun coming back to play, seeing familiar faces. This is a fun barn to play in, too. It’s always loud,\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Will Smith<\/p>\n Smith laughed when I asked if Chernyshov called for the puck on the GWG: “I mean, we’re pretty far away, but I just saw him kind of lift his stick up, and then got to make decision pretty quick, and he did the rest.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n Warsofsky: “I truly believe this team can get hot. When we play good hockey, we play the right way, we got buy-in, guys are going, we’re determined, and we have some desperation to defend, we can get hot.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/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