Sharks have a blueprint for success without Evander Kane

The San Jose Sharks’ road trip started with a convincing win. It ended with a disappointing loss.

Somewhere in between, though, the Sharks made a point about their team through the first week and change of the regular season.

They’re perfectly capable of winning games without Evander Kane.

The Sharks, without their leading scorer from last year, are 4-2-0 after they finished a five-game road trip with a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

They’ve shown that a workmanlike approach and a more harmonious dressing room – not to mention better depth and goaltending – can go a long way in reversing the fortunes from last season when Kane had a team-high 22 goals and 49 points in 56 games.

The Sharks begin a five-game homestand Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, who they beat 5-0 in their first game of the road trip last week.

“There’s a lot of good things and I’m trying to see the positives with this group,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said after Tuesday’s loss. “It’s early in the season, we’re 4-2 after playing five out of six on the road. It’s a pretty good spot to be in coming home for five games.”

After Tuesday, Kane has served six games of the 21-game suspension he was handed by the NHL for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. He is eligible to return Nov. 30 when the Sharks play the Devils in New Jersey.

A day after the suspension was announced, the Sharks were tight-lipped about whether Kane would be accepted back inside the sanctuary of the team’s locker room given his COVID protocol violation and the discord that took place within the team last season.

But in subsequent interviews, the Sharks have talked about the vastly different atmosphere around the team since the start of training camp. That improved climate has seeped over into their on-ice performance with everyone buying into the team concept.

“I haven’t had fun like this in a long time. It’s a lot of fun with this group,” captain Logan Couture told NBC Sports California after the Sharks’ 5-3 win over Toronto last Friday. “That dressing room’s as good as it’s been in a long time. We want to play for each, we want to win for each other, and it shows on the ice.”

The Sharks came into Tuesday with the sixth-best power play in the NHL at 29.4 percent (5 for 17) and the third-best penalty kill at 92.3 percent (12 for 13). Their approach at even strength is to make simple, smart decisions with the puck and create scoring chances by outworking teams with their forecheck.

“I understand how you want to carry the puck in the zone and zone entries are important,” Sharks winger Andrew Cogliano said. “But what is just as important is being able to put a puck in and run around on the forecheck and turn over pucks. That’s how you wear teams down, but it’s also how you get zone time.”

The Sharks got away from that style in their 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Sunday, as they trailed by three goals and had been outshot 22-16 through two periods.

“We only played maybe 10 minutes to our identity tonight and we almost got a point,” Sharks goalie Adin Hill said after the game.

On offense without Kane, a new Sharks’ top line has emerged with Couture, Timo Meier, and NHL rookie Jonathan Dahlen, as the trio had combined for nine of the Sharks’ 19 goals before Tuesday.

There are still legitimate questions about which wingers can stay alongside Tomas Hertl long-term. Rudolfs Balcers, William Eklund, Alexander Barabanov, and Kevin Labanc have all had some time in those spots, and Boughner might be still be looking for a solution after losing back-to-back games.

But improved goaltending and team defense could make up for a lack of offense with Hill and James Reimer combining for a .923 save percentage – 10th best in the league – before the Predators game.

The Sharks, per Natural Stat Trick, had also allowed only 37 high-danger scoring chances in their first six games. Over the last two seasons combined, the Sharks allowed, 9.1 high danger chances per game, which ranked 27th out of 31 teams.

“We use the term ‘five-man connection’, and that five-man connection starts on our d-zone arrival, it starts on our breakouts and it works its way into the neutral zone when we’re tracking and when we’re transitioning,” Boughner said. “For me, it’s just been a tighter five-man connection in all three zones.”

How the Sharks plan to handle the Kane situation is unclear.

He is in the fourth year of a seven-year deal and is still owed over $20 million, and the Sharks cannot simply void his deal since the 21-game suspension was his punishment for the COVID protocol breach. Kane said he wants to play again, but one possible solution for the Sharks would be to simply pay him to stay away from the team and then revisit the matter in the offseason.

At least, for now, the Sharks have a blueprint for winning games without him.

“We’re grinding together, we’re playing for each other,” defenseman Brent Burns said after the Leafs’ game, “we’re making the right choices most of the time and we’re getting bounces here and there. It’s just been a lot of fun.”