Merkley has high-end offensive talent and has made strides defensively, although there’s still work to be done there. 30 on an emergency basis – all showed the strengths of their game, and at times, their weaknesses as well. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)ĭEFENSIVE DEPTH: Ryan Merkley, Jaycob Megna, and Nicolas Meloche – the three defensemen who were recalled Oct. SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 2: San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Merkley (6) controls the puck against the Buffalo Sabres in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. We’re getting there where it’s pretty fluid back and forth.” “Boston for years, Pittsburgh for years, every time they get four or five injuries, they bring guys up from the minors and they almost don’t miss a beat and we’re at that point. “You can see the good teams in this league really do that,” Boughner said Wednesday. Now that the Sharks’ system, also employed by the Barracuda, has shown it can still be a winning one even with a depleted lineup, more trust is likely to follow.
Even when the four straight wins were followed by three straight losses, the Sharks could point to what went wrong, and it usually involved getting away from their meat-and-potatoes identity. TRUST THE SYSTEM: When the Sharks started the season with a 4-0-0 record, it was easy for the coaching staff to get the buy-in that they needed to make this a more successful season than the past two. Here are six observations from the last six Sharks games. So to come out of this with a winning record and continue on the road with maybe some guys back is really big for us.” “You go 1-5, you put yourself behind the eight ball. Camp was good and that’s what you need to get in the playoffs. The organizational depth, coming into this organization, is great.
“We’ve got 11 guys (who have) under 50 (NHL) games in the lineup, and you wouldn’t know it over the last five, six games,” Sharks forward Nick Bonino said after Thursday’s game. The Sharks went 3-2-1 after the COVID saga began and enter Friday in sixth place in the Pacific Division, five points back of the first-place Edmonton Oilers. COVID-19: Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier returning to SJ Sharks