The San Jose Sharks begin a four-game road trip Sunday, and based on what we’ve seen so far this season, it could go one of two ways.
Either the Sharks will start to show that they can compete regularly away from home – which they didn’t do in October – and demonstrate some growth in that respect, or they’ll fall into some familiar habits and watch their record sink even further below .500.
Nothing will come easy.
Although San Jose (4-9-2) has games against the similarly rebuilding Philadelphia Flyers and inconsistent Pittsburgh Penguins, it also has games against the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, teams that appear capable of a deep playoff run.
The Sharks, who face the Devils on Sunday, are 1-5-1 away from home this season, outscored 32-18 along the way. If they want to show that things are different this season after going 8-29-4 on the road last year, now’s the time.
“We play some great teams, so it’ll be a really good test,” rookie center Macklin Celebrini said Thursday after the Sharks’ 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
“We’ve shown we can beat some really good teams, and we’re a really good team ourselves when we play like it. So, this will be a great test, especially on the road.”
Here are four questions as the Sharks’ second road trip gets underway:
WILL OFFENSE SHOW LIFE?: Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he needed more from forward William Eklund after Thursday’s loss to Minnesota. If he meant offensively, it’s not an unreasonable expectation, considering Eklund has just one assist in his last four games.
Still, while Eklund is a key part of the Sharks, this shouldn’t be all on him. The Sharks have scored just nine goals in their last four games — eight at even strength and just one on the power play, which has not been as productive as it needs to be.
Tyler Toffoli also has just one assist in four games, and Barclay Goodrow, who is on the third line and has been on the second power-play unit, has no points in that span. The defense has added three points.
Celebrini had two goals Thursday, a sign that his legs and timing are returning after missing 12 games with a hip injury. He’ll play the first road games of his career, giving the Sharks some badly needed energy.
A matchup between Calder Trophy candidates Celebrini and Flyers forward Matvei Michkov on Monday would be entertaining.
MORE VETERAN SCRATCHES?: If the Sharks hit more adversity on this road trip, will some more established veterans, particularly on defense, become a healthy scratch?
For their game against the Devils on Sunday, the Sharks could get top-pair defenseman Jake Walman back. Walman missed Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild with an upper-body injury but practiced on Saturday.
Walman was a scratch for last Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, telling San Jose Hockey Now on Saturday that he missed a treatment session for his upper-body injury on a team day off, …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
