SAN JOSE – It’s starting to feel like old times around the San Jose Sharks organization again.
Loud home crowds, big wins over quality opponents, and solid performances in almost every game from the team’s best players.
With all the improvements they attempted to make this offseason, the Sharks were expected to take a step forward in 2025-26 after finishing at the bottom of the NHL standings in the previous two years. But considering who the Sharks have beaten in recent games, a list that includes several playoff contenders, perhaps it’s time to start setting some loftier goals.
“Obviously, I’m excited about what I see right now,” said Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro, the team’s longest-tenured player, after a 3-1 win over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday. “But I really want to push for a playoff spot. We all do.”
By winning seven of their last 10 games, the Sharks (7-6-3) not only have an above .500 points percentage for the first time since March 2022, but, entering Sunday, were also just one point back of the Seattle Kraken for third place in the Pacific Division.
Of course, it’s incredibly early, with only 20% of the season in the books for the Sharks, who have been the beneficiaries of some tremendous performances from goalies Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic, and an incredible start by second-year center Macklin Celebrini.
But is it realistic to expect Askarov and Nedeljkovic to keep up the combined .956 save percentage they’ve had over the past six games? Is it realistic for the 19-year-old Celebrini to continue to lead the NHL in scoring, as he did after Saturday’s games, when he and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon each had 24 points?
Maybe not. However, the Sharks are also developing the kind of habits and playing with the type of structure that is repeatable from game to game. They’re not beating the Panthers, the Winnipeg Jets, the Colorado Avalanche, and the New Jersey Devils – all teams that made the playoffs last season – by accident. There’s something to this.
“It gives our group confidence, for sure, (considering) the quality of those teams,” said Celebrini, who scored his 10th goal of the season Saturday. “But those games are kind of the model of game that we’ve been searching for, and once you’ve done it, you feel comfortable going back to it, and you know what it looks like.
“The last few games, I feel like we’ve done that really well.”
The key moment in Saturday’s game came midway through the third period, when the Sharks were clinging to a one-goal lead and Celebrini was whistled for interference.
The Sharks were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill up until that point. The Sharks lost the opening faceoff to start the PK. Still, Askarov calmly made two saves during the kill, and Ferraro, Vincent Desharnais, and Collin Graf each blocked a shot as the Panthers circled the Sharks’ net for almost two full minutes looking for the equalizer that didn’t come.
Once the penalty to Celebrini was over, the announced crowd of 15,895 at SAP Center let out one of its loudest cheers of the night.
Askarov, now 4-4-1 with an .892 save percentage in nine starts, loved the positive energy, as he has now two or fewer goals in each of his last three games.
“That was awesome,” Askarov said of the crowd. “I was like, ‘Geez,’ especially like after the (Sharks’) first goal, oh my god (the crowd was) so loud. The boys love it. The team can feel it.”
Adam Gaudette also scored at even strength, and Alexander Wennberg added an empty-netter in the final minute for the Sharks, who begin a three-game road trip against Western Conference teams on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. That’s followed by games against the Calgary Flames on Thursday and the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
Suppose the Sharks want to begin peeking at the standings and whispering about earning a playoff spot for the first time since 2019, when Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson were on the team. That’s fine with coach Ryan Warsofsky as long as the process of what has made the Sharks more successful of late isn’t forgotten.
Apprised of Ferraro’s comment about wanting to be in a playoff hunt, Warsofsky said, “I’m glad he’s thinking that. To be honest with you, I’m really not thinking that. It’s a good win today. We still have things to work on. We want to keep getting better as a group. Individually, we still have a long way to go.
“We’ll enjoy this day off (Sunday). We’ll get right back to work on Monday, and we’ll get on a road trip that’s going to be difficult. We have to make sure we continue to take the steps forward and go through it together. Of course, the end of the goal is, we’d love to make the playoffs, but we can’t make the playoffs on November 8.”
Ferraro knows that, too. But given everything he and the Sharks have been through in recent years, it’s OK to begin thinking about what might be ahead once you finally taste some success.
“We just feel like we can win any game, (and it’s) very dependent on what we’re doing,” Ferraro said. “I think we’re starting to realize that it doesn’t matter who we’re playing; it’s about the way that we play. We’re starting to recognize what that is, and it’s helped us.”