Sharks' stinker against Flames raises some red flags as road trip nears end

"Two things remain true as the San Jose Sharks get set to play the Seattle Kraken on Saturday to conclude a three-game road trip against Western Conference teams. One, Yaroslav Askarov is playing as well as any goalie in the NHL right now. Two, the Sharks, despite improvements, are still fully capable of laying a complete egg against any given opponent."

"Askarov was terrific as he made 34 saves and will likely be in the net again Saturday, when the Sharks try to pick up the pieces against the Kraken, who are 2-1-1 since a 6-1 home loss to San Jose on Nov. 5. "We were awful tonight," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "(Askarov) was unbelievable. It shouldn't have been a 2-0 game, that's for sure. He was the only one who was ready to play.""

"ANOTHER SLOW START It's been said that sometimes teams start to play their best just as a losing streak nears an end, and begin reverting to some bad habits right before a winning streak comes to a close. That appears to have been the case with the Sharks over the last two-plus weeks. The Sharks probably deserved a better fate against Los Angeles on Oct. 28 when they outshot the Kings 40-14 but still lost 4-3 in regulation time."

Yaroslav Askarov delivered an outstanding performance, making 34 saves in a 2-0 loss to the Calgary Flames and will likely start Saturday against the Seattle Kraken. The Sharks committed ghastly puck-management errors, produced only six shots in the first two periods, and saw a seven-game point streak and four-game win streak snapped. The Flames are the NHL's last-place and lowest-scoring team, yet San Jose failed to start well and took them lightly. Coaches had urged a better start, but the Sharks reverted to slow starts and bad habits over the past two-plus weeks. The team must correct effort and puck play to regain momentum.

Read at The Mercury News