San Jose Sharks: It’s far too early to hit the panic button

The San Jose Sharks are struggling through three games and Sharks territory is not dealing with it well. Here is why Sharks fans need to take a deep breath and stop worrying.

The 2019-20 NHL season is underway and for the San Jose Sharks, they wish these games still didn’t count.

Team Teal has had a hard time through three games as they were missing Erik Karlsson for the first game of the season as he flew back to the Bay Area for the birth of his daughter.

As we all know Evander Kane was also absent for the first three games as he was dealing with the three-game suspension that was handed to him by the league for making physical contact with a referee during the last preseason game of the season.

For the first time this season, the Sharks will skate with their full team out on the ice when they play the Nashville Predators later tonight/

During the first three games, the Sharks have had very little success in just about every area. In those three games, they have only scored three goals (one per game) while allowing 12 goals against.

So not only have they had trouble scoring, but they are also having trouble keeping the other team from scoring. With just those two combinations, you can see why the team has not been winning.

Except it only gets worse from there.

The Sharks have not looked good as they are dealing with not having their full lineup out there but are also having to play with three rookies who all made their debut during the first game of the season in Vegas.

When you remove Kane from the lineup, you are missing 30 goals and the toughness that he brings onto the ice every time he is out there.

As we saw in the first two games against the Golden Knights, the San Jose Sharks were being outplayed by Vegas but also their opponents were the much more physical team even on the road.

While through the first three games, just inserting Evander Kane back into the line up would not have gotten us a win as one player would not be the equivalent of all the problems the Sharks are having.

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The defense has struggled as every defender has a negative plus-minus right now through the first three games, which includes Karlsson and Brent Burns who are the main players on defense for the Sharks.

It is not only the defensemen who are in the negatives but it is everybody on the team. There is not one person who has a positive next to their name in the stats category. The common phrase that has been used here is that it is only the first three games of the season.

The other teams that have not won a game are the New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars, Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, and the Chicago Blackhawks.

While some of these teams you would expect to be down at the bottom of the standings, there are also teams that you would expect to be near the top of the standings. The point is that the season has barely begun and teams are still trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

I am sure everyone would love to see their team go 82-0 and dominate every single game, but the truth is, that the NHL is a hard league and every team goes through a rough patch or two here and there.

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I would be more worried if this was happening in February or March than at the beginning of October. The NHL has a long season for a reason, they want teams to struggle and to succeed all in one season.

Right now. the Sharks got the struggling seed. It has not looked good for the veterans or the rookies in this very young season. And if you feel inclined to worry about something, worry about the veterans on this team and their lack of presence in the games that they have played.

The rookies will come around as the season goes on and they can play more games, but it is the veterans that must lead by example and show everybody that they know how to play San Jose Sharks’ style of hockey.

As the season goes on, we will see the Sharks play their style of hockey and become the team us the fans hope they will be.

Until then, we must continue to support them and try to stay positive during this little rough patch.