Sharks Locker Room: San Jose Learning Their Winning Formula?

NEWARK, N.J. — On paper, the San Jose Sharks’ last two wins look similar, and not necessarily in a good way.

On Nov. 5, Vitek Vanecek made 49 saves to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime.

On Sunday night, Mackenzie Blackwood made 44 saves to shut out his old team New Jersey Devils 1-0.

Nico Sturm scored for the Sharks.

Of course, you never want to surrender 40-plus shots in a game.

But for 40 or so minutes against New Jersey, San Jose played exactly how head coach Ryan Warsofsky wants, matching the Stanley Cup contender chance for chance, battle for battle, save for save.

You couldn’t say that about the Blue Jackets’ tilt, where the Sharks looked a step behind from the get-go.

“It’s good to see that when we play the right way and we’re consistent with our structure and our effort, we can play with teams and we can win hockey games,” Warsofsky said. “And I thought we did a really good job of that, the first two periods.”

Through two periods, shots were 25-22 Devils. Per Natural Stat Trick, it was 39-34 Shot Attempts at 5-on-5 for New Jersey, but 14-9 Scoring Chances and 10-5 High-Danger for San Jose.

The Sharks actually earned more power plays, 3-1, through 40 minutes.

It was some of the best hockey that the San Jose Sharks have played this season.

Granted, it was against a New Jersey squad that played the night before, albeit just on Long Island, but it was genuinely good hockey from San Jose.

“Our guys are starting to figure our identity out again. It’s going to come down to consistency,” Warsofsky said.

“The games that we’ve won this year, we played mostly very simple,” Sturm said. “And obviously, with the roster makeup that we have, that’s how we got to do it.”

The question with every young player is consistency. The same could be said about any young team.

“We got to do it again tomorrow,” Warsofsky said.

The Sharks head to Philadelphia for a back-to-back on Monday night.

After the game, Fabian Zetterlund was glowing with praise for Blackwood’s performance. Blackwood was hilarious post-game. Sturm talked about what the Sharks did right.

Warsofsky talked up the performances of his fourth line, and defensemen Henry Thrun and Timothy Liljegren.

Fabian Zetterlund

Zetterlund, on Blackwood’s performance:

He’s the best goalie in the league right now. I can say that.

Zetterlund, on how he and William Eklund responded after a tough couple of games:

We’re back.

Mackenzie Blackwood

Blackwood didn't seem too emotional about playing his old team for the first time in New Jersey this morning & he said that he's better when he's calmer.

But he couldn't hide his smile when asked where this shutout win ranked for him: "It's up there. It's up there."

He felt…

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 11, 2024

Blackwood, on feeling locked in tonight from the beginning:

It’s just one of those nights where it feels easy. I don’t know why sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t, but sometimes just pucks seem like they’re coming slow.

Priceless exchange with Blackwood, I asked him about Zetterlund calling him the best goalie in the NHL right now: "Today? I'll take it today. But tomorrow, ehhhh I don't know, we'll see. Appreciate that." pic.twitter.com/Wuk1CyO6zb

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 11, 2024

Nico Sturm

Sturm, on if the San Jose Sharks can play like they did for the first 50 minutes or so every night:

Yeah…The opposition played last night, you know you’re fresh. Got a good practice day yesterday. Want to make their D turn, get back for pucks. And that’s exhausting to do. You played the night before, and it might not reap a reward right away in the first five or 10 minutes, but I think you wear them down as the game goes on second, third period. They got to go back for every puck. I think the games that we’ve won this year, we played mostly very simple. And obviously, with the roster makeup that we have, that’s how we got to do it.

Sturm, on linemate Carl Grundstrom:

I think we play a pretty similar style game, complement each other pretty well. I don’t think people realize about him, how good his shot is. You watch him in practice. I think he’s got an elite shot. He hasn’t maybe gotten to show it yet, obviously, with the role that we play right now, but he can make plays. He’s a good hockey player.

Sturm didn't know his goal went off old teammate Timo Meier and in.

He smiled, "I'm sure he's gonna be happy about that."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 11, 2024

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky, on Timothy Liljegren and Henry Thrun’s promotions:

Liljegren was really good, as was Henry blocking some big shots. I thought Lily was skating with more urgency. I thought Henry was really, really good tonight, one of his best games I’ve seen him play here in two years.

We’ve pushed [Thrun] and I’ve challenged him quite a bit of being better in a lot of different areas. Extremely coachable kid, smart kid, he’s starting to figure it out here a little bit. Now, the next point will be the consistency of it.

Warsofsky, on how rewarding it was for the San Jose Sharks to win a game where they competed toe-to-toe against one of the best teams in the NHL for most of the night:

It’s good to see that when we play the right way and we’re consistent with our structure and our effort, we can play with teams and we can win hockey games. We just gotta find that consistency. And I thought we did a really good job of that, the first two periods. Did a lot of things that we talked about in practice the other day and again this morning in our morning skate. So our guys are starting to figure our identity out again. It’s going to come down to consistency. We got to do it again tomorrow.