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Where do the San Jose Sharks go from here?
Alternate captain Tyler Toffoli shot back, “It’s game three of the season.”
And hey, that’s a fair thing to say. The Sharks are now a perhaps acceptable 0-2-1, after a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
On the other hand, my question was fair too. Personally, I’m not so concerned with the team’s record, but how they’re playing.
The Sharks, though they almost pulled out the second game of the season, a 7-6 OT loss to the Anaheim Ducks, have been thoroughly dominated at 5-on-5 in the last two contests.
Per Natural Stat Trick, San Jose has a 29.0 Corsi For % at 5-on-5 the last two games. If you’re not familiar with the stat, basically, for every three shot attempts, the Sharks have given up seven.
It’s not a be-all, end-all stat, but consider the Sharks, to a man, will tell you that they haven’t played well the last two contests.
“We’re just giving away too many shots,” Macklin Celebrini said, after the Ducks outshot the Sharks 43-23 on Saturday.
“It was men against boys,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said, after Cup contender Carolina outshot San Jose 43-17.
Tonight, the Sharks had one shot after 10:42 of the second period, and zero shots in the final frame.
On Saturday, San Jose was carried by the power play, and some combination of shooting luck and unremarkable Petr Mrazek goaltending. These are not sustainable formulas for long-term success, especially if your team is being caved in at 5-on-5.
Simply put, you’re not typically going to score on 26.1 percent of your shots against an NHL opponent, like the Sharks did against the Ducks.
That’s why, make fun of it if you want, the message was simple after getting routed tonight.
“Work harder,” Toffoli said of what an angry Warsofsky communicated during a third period timeout tonight.
Playing a more basic brand of hockey is also something that the San Jose Sharks bench boss would clearly endorse.
San Jose will get back to the basics at practice on Wednesday.
All that said, the team’s record obviously matters.
If they were playing better, you’d feel better about this team exorcising the ghosts of the recent past sooner than later.
Last year, the Sharks started the season 0-7-2 before their first victory.
In 2023-24, they began 0-10-1.
In 2022-23, they kicked off the David Quinn era 0-5-0.
On top of that, San Jose has missed the playoffs for six years and counting.
Those are the cold hard facts of the hole that the Sharks are digging themselves once again.
You might say this isn’t the same team: Well, prove it.
After the game, 2025 No. 2 pick Michael Misa spoke about his NHL debut. Warsofsky shared his thoughts about fellow rookie Sam Dickinson’s performance. William Eklund, the lone goal scorer, talked about competing harder. And Toffoli spoke about a key area where harder work will pay dividends.
Misa, on what he liked about his NHL debut, what he can improve:
I thought I came out fast. Had some chances early in the first. I thought as the game went on, our overall effort wasn’t there, I don’t think, including me. I don’t think I was great defensively today. It’s going to come with learning and playing against very good players. Just got to get back into practice.
Misa, on the message from the San Jose Sharks coaching staff during the timeout:
We had to wake up a little bit. They were on us constantly in our zone, and it was just trying to flip the script and get the puck into their zone, create some plays.
A sweet moment in an otherwise ugly night.
Misa came out to talk to media late, after Warsofsky, unusual because players typically talk before the coach post-game.
It was because he was spending extra time with his parents and brother, who flew in for his NHL debut.
"I'm…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 15, 2025
Warsofsky, on the message to Michael Misa:
It’s about the team. Did some good things. First NHL game, you only get one of them.
Warsofsky, on if the San Jose Sharks got away from playing a basic game in part because of all the breakaways that they had early in the second period:
That’s a fair statement. Even our goal we score, it’s a pretty lucky goal. Doesn’t happen often.
Warsofsky, on Sam Dickinson’s game:
It’s a fast game out there. I think he learned that. Did some things. He looked a little bit more confident, but there’s various things that we got to work on.
Eklund, on if it comes down to simply competing harder:
It’s a game of inches out there. We need to work hard and outwork the other guys. I don’t think we did it today. We’re not good enough. We’re gonna come and work tomorrow.
Toffoli, on when the San Jose Sharks lost their grasp of the game in the second period:
They started putting a lot of pressure on us, and we just didn’t win enough battles, low and on the walls, especially on the walls. That’s what they do best and that’s where they keep the pressure on and do what they do.
Toffoli, on Warsofsky's message during the timeout: "To work harder."
How #SJSharks go forward from here? "It's game 3 of the season, so hopefully we can get better from tonight."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 15, 2025
Sharks Blown Away by Hurricanes, Lose Misa’s NHL Debut 5-1
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