San Jose Sharks: Five keys to staying in playoff hunt over the next five weeks

Things can change quickly, but the Sharks are still slated to practice on Sunday afternoon even as COVID-19 and the Omicron variant wreak havoc on NHL rosters and the post-Christmas schedule.

From there, it’ll be a five-week dash to the NHL All-Star break for the Sharks (15-14-1), as they try to remain in the postseason hunt. They entered the extended Christmas break in sixth place in the Pacific Division and five points out of a playoff spot.

Starting with Tuesday’s home game with the Arizona Coyotes, the Sharks are slated to play 16 times in 36 days before the break – with nine games on the road.

By the time the season resumes after the all-star break, the Sharks – presumably – will have 36 games left and only so much time remaining to put themselves in a playoff position before the NHL trade deadline. By March 21, Sharks management will need to decide whether they want to deal some pending unrestricted free agents like Tomas Hertl or keep the band together for a run at a playoff spot.

With that in mind, here are five keys for the Sharks for the next five weeks.

STAYING HEALTHY: The Sharks had a 3-2-1 record during their first COVID outbreak earlier this season when seven players missed multiple games.

The Sharks might be facing a similar situation now with forwards Hertl, Jonathan Dahlen, Jasper Weatherby, and defenseman Brent Burns in COVID protocol. As of Friday, it was unclear if any of those players would be available against Arizona.

What we do know is that Omicron won’t be going away quickly, and it’s quite possible that NHL teams experiencing COVID issues will still need to play games with makeshift rosters.

The Sharks need to do what they can to treat the rest of this season as last season when they lost only one player – Hertl – for an extended period of time due to COVID. It’s not fun, but that means staying vigilant inside and outside the rink. The Sharks don’t necessarily want to test their organization’s depth again like they did earlier this season.

CHIPPING IN: Of the 34 goals scored by Sharks wingers in 30 games this season, 20 have come from two players – Timo Meier with 12 and Dahlen with eight. Alexander Barabanov only has three goals but has added 12 assists, the fourth-most on the team.

The Sharks need some other wingers to score, namely Rudolfs Balcers, Noah Gregor, Matt Nieto, and Lane Pederson, who have four goals in 78 combined games. But can they get it done?

The Sharks are averaging 1.63 goals per game, which is below the five teams they are chasing in the Pacific Division – Anaheim, Vegas, Calgary, Edmonton, and Los Angeles. Not good enough if they want to stay in the hunt.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: Of the Sharks’ next 16 scheduled games, 10 are with teams presently in a playoff position – including a daunting four-game road trip from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1 against Washington, Florida, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.

That puts extra emphasis on beating the teams that are chasing a playoff spot or are just plain out of the running. The Sharks play Philadelphia twice and Arizona, Buffalo, Los Angeles, and Seattle once. The Sharks need to earn the lion’s share of points against those opponents, with the divisional games against the Kraken and Kings having a bit more importance.

So far this season the Sharks have left points on the table against Montreal, New Jersey, and Columbus, and most recently Seattle and Vancouver.

STICKING WITH THE FORMULA: The Sharks are playing seven of the next 16 games against teams that as of now are averaging three goals per game or more – two against both Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, and one each against Washington, Florida, and Carolina.

Getting quality goaltending and sticking to their identity will be critical. The Sharks are 15-3-1 when they allow three goals or fewer, and 0-11-0 when they allow four goals or more.

The Sharks have a .919 save percentage this season, tied for eighth-best in the NHL, between James Reimer (.936) and Adin Hill (.900). The career numbers for both Sharks goalies, though, suggest Reimer will cool off a bit and Hill will improve.

Defensive structure, of course, plays a role as the Sharks this season have cut down on the number of high danger chances they’ve allowed. Per Natural Stat Trick, they’ve allowed 8.6 high danger chances per game during 5-on-5 play this season compared to 9.2 last year.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Sharks are fifth in the NHL with a penalty kill percentage of 85.3, but are a so-so 16th on the power play at 18.9 percent. The man advantage needs to improve a notch so there isn’t so much pressure to produce 5-on-5 or on the goalies to stand on their heads.

The Sharks are 7-3-1 so far this season when they score a power-play goal, and 15-4-1 when they do not allow a power-play goal.