The season of pain is officially over. The
Sharks closed out one of their worst campaign's in franchise history, dropping
a 5-2 decision to the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place in Alberta on Thursday
night. Edmonton was motivated to get the win as they were positioned to win the
Pacific Division and the Western Conference if the stars aligned.
The
Oilers had the opportunity to clinch the division and conference if they won in
any fashion and the Vegas Golden Knights lost in regulation. Vegas would clinch
the division and conference if they recorded one point against the Seattle
Kraken or if the Oilers lost to the Sharks in regulation, overtime or the
shootout.
Edmonton did what they needed to do, so it came down to the
outcome of the Knights game against Seattle.
For the Sharks, it was
just another harsh lesson in how to put on a straight face after a beating was
administered by a superior team.
The Sharks were chasing the Oilers
all night. Edmonton opened the first two periods with a pair of goals that the
Sharks would respond to with lone goals. Trailing 4-2 heading into the final
period, former Shark Evander Kane scored his 16th goal of the season to pour a
little vinegar into the open wound that was the last loss of the season.
The loss would result in a .365 points percentage for the year, which
would rank the 4th lowest in franchise history. The only seasons with a worse
percentage came in 1992-93 (.142), 1991-92 (.243), and 1995-96 (.286). They
recorded a .437 percentage in the COVID shortened 2020-21 season and a .469
last season.
It's no secret that the roster is absent the
firepower to compete at the NHL level. Players like William Eklund, Thomas
Bordeleau, Ozzy Weisblatt and Henry Thrun will likely be cast into the fire
next season. The team has not reason to protect them, and they are out of
opportunities to preserve years of service on their rookie contracts.
The jury is still out on head coach David Quinn. He really didn't have the
tools net many positive results, but he will be under the microscope if his
young players don't develop the next couple of years.
San Jose can't
afford to make any more roster mistakes. It's time to start developing guys or
else the painful outcomes this team produced this season will become the norm.
Game Notes: * Per Darin Stephens: Steven Lorentz scores
his first career power play goal on his 27th birthday. Other Sharks to score PP
goals on their birthday: Johan Garpenlov (1992), Steve Guolla (1997), Nils
Ekman (2004) & Justin Braun (2012).
* Also from Stephens: The
Sharks lost 33 games in which they led or were tied in the 3rd period
(including OT/SO losses) this season.
* Erik Karlsson did not finish
the game with the rest of his teammates. The defenseman was missing from the
bench over the last several minutes. It's not clear if Karlsson sustained an
injury or not.
* Karlsson and Nico Sturm both finished the game with a
plus/minus of -3 each.
* The Sharks have a media scrum scheduled for
Saturday at SAP Center to close the books on the 2022-23 season.
