San Jose Sharks
Sharks Locker Room: Playoffs Not Bad Word in San Jose Anymore
The San Jose Sharks believe.
That much is clear, after the Sharks’ impressive 5-4 OT comeback victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t just that San Jose rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits, 2-0 and 4-2, against a true Stanley Cup contender.
It’s how they did it, playing a consistent, relentless style, even when faced with adversity.
“We definitely stuck with it,” alternate captain Tyler Toffoli said.
“It’s what good teams do,” Adam Gaudette noted.
It’s what playoff teams do.
The 23-18-3 San Jose Sharks are five games over .500 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
That’s also the last time that the Sharks were in the playoffs.
San Jose is third in the Pacific Division through 44 games, a frankly unbelievable development, after consecutive seasons as the worst team in the NHL.
But like I said, the Sharks believe.
“We like playing good teams, and we like beating the good teams,” Gaudette said. “Because we’re a good team.”
When alternate captain Mario Ferraro first said the “P” word on Nov. 8, after the San Jose Sharks’ 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers, it felt like just a whisper within the organization. At the time, San Jose was 7-6-3, just recovering from a here-we-go-again 0-4-2 start.
A week later, after an ugly loss at the Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky, rightly, went out of his way to keep his team grounded. It was, after all, early in the season.
“Where we’re at as a team is, no offense, but reading all this stuff about playoffs and where we are,” he said on Nov. 14, “we got a long way to go here.”
It feels like the Sharks have come a long way, especially since that mid-December road trip that closed with comeback wins at the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. They’re 9-4-0 since Dec. 11 at Toronto, and spearheaded by Macklin Celebrini’s ascension to NHL superstardom, they’ve been playing, save a couple ugly losses, some of their most consistent hockey of the season.
And they’re playing, especially on Saturday against the Stars, playoff-caliber hockey.
“We’re maturing,” Gaudette said, “and we’re playing mature hockey.”
For weeks, Sharks players, from Celebrini to Collin Graf to Ryan Reaves, have been tossing the “P” word freely.
“There’s a big belief in that dressing room right now,” Warsofsky said.
For the first time in a long time, playoffs aren’t a bad word in San Jose.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky, on the San Jose Sharks’ resiliency:
The guys did a good job of just competing and playing and playing through things. They scored to make it 4-2. It could have easily went away. And credit to the group for digging in and finding a way.
Warsofsky, on how impressive this comeback was:
We’re a good hockey team.
Sam Dickinson
Dickinson, on his buzzcut:
I think Delly led the charge first, and then Goody came in and his was gone. And I was like, well, I’ll be next. 2026, Year of the Buzzcut. So we’ll see which one of you guys jump in on that.
Adam Gaudette
Gaudette, on how the San Jose Sharks keep going, despite being down:
Just stick with it. We do the right things, we’re going to get rewarded for it.
When things don’t go our way, you can’t get too low. And when things are going our way, you can’t get too high, because it can change just like that.
Gaudette: "We like playing good teams, and we like beating the good teams. Because we're a good team."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 11, 2026
Gaudette, on how the team has matured this season:
We’re not getting down. We don’t get down. We’re not motherfucking each other out there. We come together as a group. We get down, we grab the guy next to us, and we just go right back to work. It’s what good teams do.
Tyler Toffoli
Toffoli, on the San Jose Sharks’ comeback:
We definitely stuck with it. And obviously we had a lot of power plays, but I thought we earned all of them and did a really good job of using our speed, holding on to pucks.
Love that quote by Gaudette. Do you think anyone has ever said that line before “We’re not motherfucking each other out there”?
I had to reread it a few times cuz I felt like I was missing a word or two 😂
I snickered at this quote so loudly that I woke up my wife and dog.
Neither were pleased.
I think it’s a reference to what it was like playing for the Senators with Linus Ullmark.
Idiotic comment once again.
WTF…?
Very much getting 93-94 vibes.
Leddys zone exit at 4:40 left in the 1st was awesome.
I thought he looked solid
The chat feed for the game on the athletic was a bunch of sharks fans hating on Leddy and Lily lol. Snark you would have a ball in those comment sections
I’ll have to check it out.😈💩🤪 probably teenagers whose parents never told them no.
Anything is possible when you have Mack , if he went down for 10 games we would go 1-9. People literally owe their jobs to him.
Absolutely, if not 0-10. He has been the main reason behind what is looking like their most incredible season ever, and by far the greatest player to ever wear the sweater, even if he never played another game
I love Macklin but come on. Jumbo coming in 05 and having a Hart season to turn a water-treading team into a perennial contender can never be forgotten.
Jumbo needed good players around him to get to scoring areas and make themselves available for great passes, Mack is dynamic all he needs is a sliver of daylight to be dangerous he’s so fucking creative and savvy and on top of all that he’s a little pit bull in all zones, he finishes checks and will pick your pocket while he’s at it. I love that kid.
Oh yeah, like nils Ekman and 3rd liner at the time Cheechoo. And late in his career was the best 3c in hockey with world beaters Sorensen and Labanc. lol! Jumbo was no different that some of the greatest to ever play. He turned mediocre players into scoring machines. He turned water to wine. Give him good or great players and he was nearly unstoppable. Again this was in an era of larger goalie pads and clutching and grabbing and head shots were legal. Celly would probably already have multiple concussions playing back in Jumbos prime.
Yup. How quickly people forget. Jumbo finished like 14th or something all time in points? He got 125 points in a lower scoring era. Celly probably end up better but jumbo was physically unstoppable. They’re different kinds of players.
Actually, post lockout is when those rule changes happened, and the 2005-2006 season was pretty much right in line with scoring now… I looked it up. Onnnnline. Thornton’s stretch of 92 pts in 58 games that season is currently the best ever by a Shark. Mack is at 70 in 44, so that number is within reach, but definitely will require him to keep the pedal to the metal. But then you also have to remember Jumbo was in his 8th season at age 26. Macklin is in his 2nd season at age 19. One of these is amazing. The… Read more »
The rule changes didn’t have a dramatic effect on game play immediately. Nothing like this current league that has less contact than some beer league games I’ve played in. Sorry but no, the level of defense and physicality Jumbo played thru in his prime was a magnitude more than Celly flying around the ice mostly unimpeded. The play where the Dallas player outright tackled him yesterday would be almost every shift back then. I don’t know what you think you looked up “ooonline” but I watched those games and the difference in game play couldn’t be more different. They also… Read more »
Nobody is tossing anything in the trash and raw numbers are numbers. Nearly the exact same scoring rates happened in that year as this one.
How is that scoring split up between 5v5 and Pp? What are the hit totals? A lot goes into style of gameplay. More than simple numbers. Again not saying Celly isn’t generational and he ain’t great. Mostly that it’s nearly impossible to compare eras. I’m pushing back on the “he’s BY FAR their best player ever”. I think he ends up being their best player, but I don’t think the difference ends up being as dramatic as some of you here want to believe.
Here’s my source. I’m just trying to keep it simple:
https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/stats.html
But now that you mention it, it appears power play opportunities that year were the highest of any year on record (since 62-63 on the site)
Jumbo is my favorite player ever, atop the Sharks ‘Greatest Hits’:
In some what chronological order:
Makarov+Larionov, Irbe, Friesen, Nolan, Ricci, Nabokov, Cheechoo, Patty, Clowe, Murray, Boyle, Logan, and Burns.
It’s not forgetting or erasing anyone’s greatness to recognize that Celebrini is THE BEST SHARK EVER. He’s doing things that only Crosby and Gretzky have done. It’ll take a whole career, but Celebrini is already being called a hall of famer by his competitors.
If the dud had said best sharks ever I wouldn’t have disagreed. “By far…” I have a problem with. I remember when Jumbo had back to back 90 assist seasons and they kept talking about how only Gretzky and Lemiuex had ever done that. There’s always a stat you can find for players this good to prop them up. Some guys never got the chance to play in the NHL as teenagers so they weren’t in the running for this stats. Who knows what a couple of them would have done if they were their teams only offensive option as… Read more »
Watched a Dallas Stars game review, with some excellent work. https://www.youtube.com/live/k8GZMqm15fU?si=Q2oDapL2OXbrnxPc
They had a very good understanding of both teams. They made a particular point that Ned looked overmatched and maybe lacking confidence. Particularly said he got small on those breakaways. I think they are correct, although Ned did make a key save at the end, we won that game despite the fact our backup goalie was outclassed by their backup goalie.
Another screen shot
i disagree with analysis. quite shallow. very common for goalies to contact on breakaway. watch breakaway goals on youtube. i would even say Ned is quite large here compared to other goalies on breakaways. on 2 in 1 goalie could not come out more because he had to play both players. we should realy teach D to cover, get onto the off puck F and not stay in the middle. cause goalie knows there is a good chance the pass can get through. 2 on 1 must, G has to fully fully commit to the puck carrier, and D the… Read more »
Agreed with all of your points. And that pic showing all 5 holes open…that’s not what the skater saw. It’s a shot from way behind that.
Fair point
Thanks for the comments. Nothing against Ned but I thought he was a weak link last night. No way I think Ned is better than Asky, asky gives me confidence, Ned I am hoping. The start numbers support that view 2 on 1: i ageee for sure goalie needs to to commit to the shooter, d eliminates the pass. On this play the shooter shot though… and we know where the puck went. of course it is a team game, on goal #3 Toffoli fell asleep and Leddy was busy complaining to the ref about the bad call. all good… Read more »
thanks for posting that review. good discussion.
Leddy wasn’t complaining he took the guy at the net. He had no help on that side.
That’s basically perfect positioning
I would say options 3,2 should not be a option, his weight in the right leg, shooter lefty, and goalie ready to slide, but it went to 3, it’s always easy to judge sitting on the couch. End result what matters.
Are you the guy who bitches about Ned after every game…? lol!
No not me. Im here for Sharks wins. I did think Ned was a weak link last night tho. 800
save %. No big deal, just sharing what I saw and I thought made sense
I think I only saw one softy get thru Ned. The rest were still defensive breakdowns.
That looks normal. Depends on goalie style. Not all goalies play ultra aggressive. Depth depends on speed of the attacker too so a still tells you nothing as it relates to depth.
Outclassed? Did you see the final score? That’s really all that matters!
I’m not sure why we’re dissecting the play of a goalie after a win? Strange.
Of course. Just talking hockey beyond the headline I am still very happy with the team
and the win lol
I don’t the discussion but there have been games where you can pick the goalies apart and this wasn’t really one of them.
“I don’t mind the discussion…” is what that should say.
When Randy Hahn was doing the “CAAANNN YOUUUU” I was like “Say dig it say dig it say dig it”. Missed opportunity.
they still have a very long way to go, but progress is striking
“….very long..” is inaccurate and bit a hyperbolic. They have a ways to go, primarily on
the d-end as most of already know and have stated. They have come a long way and probably 2-3 key players from being a true contender.
That’s what she said.
Michael Scott over here!
it is a logjam in pacific and western conference, and there are 38 more games to play, I’ll be more optimistic in mid february, if everything stays the same
Agreed.