San Jose Sharks showing signs of life after disappointing start to the season

The San Jose Sharks are beginning to show signs of life having come out on top in each of their last two games after a disappointing 0-3 start to the season.

The San Jose Sharks finally have reasons to be optimistic after winning their last two games following a disastrous 0-3 start to the season. There are still some improvements to be made, but it’s clear that this is a different team than what we saw over those first three games.

And look no further than the returning Patrick Marleau as the primary impetus for such a dramatic shift.

Of course, one player alone can’t fix a team’s struggles. But Marleau’s return to the Bay Area has surely breathed new life into a Sharks team that was down on their luck through three games.

Marleau has not only been an emotional leader and positive inspiration on the ice, but his play has helped elevate the Sharks’ first line. The 40-year-old scored two goals in his first game back on Thursday while he assisted Timo Meier‘s first-period goal in Sunday’s victory.

The line of Marleau, Meier, and Logan Couture have ignited what was a stagnant Sharks offense and the trio totaled four points in the team’s victory over the Calgary Flames.

Of course, Marleau isn’t the only reason for this sudden team makeover. But his presence is nearly impossible to ignore.

And at this point, it’s difficult to imagine this team without him — even after just two games.

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Aside from the first line, the fourth line stepped it up in Sunday’s game with center Dylan Gambrell continuing his strong start to the season. Gambrell finished with nearly 11 minutes of ice time and won 6-of-13 faceoff attempts.

The second and third lines are still finding their footing — especially with Kevin Labanc and Tomas Hertl‘s slow starts to the season. The return of Evander Kane has helped, but the Sharks need more from their young top-six forwards.

The third line will hopefully receive a boost once Marcus Sorensen returns, but for now, Joe Thornton‘s unit continues to be unimpressive from an analytics perspective.

What was perhaps most encouraging from Sunday’s victory was the play of the Sharks defense and Martin Jones in net. Jones finished with 32 saves on 33 opportunities including a beautiful stop on a Mikael Backlund breakaway attempt in the second period to retain a 2-1 lead.

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The 29-year-old netminder picked up his first victory of the season and temporarily silenced some critics who felt that Aaron Dell should receive more starts. But remember, this is the same Martin Jones that Sharks fans know very well.

He’ll have his games like this and then put together his fair share of duds. Consistency as never been his forte.

That said, the Sharks have shown plenty of signs of improvement over the last two games. The offense is finally coming together, the defense is looking better, and the goaltending — well we know what to expect at this point.

There is still room for improvement as the Sharks did manage only 20 shots on goal on Sunday as compared to Calgary’s 33. But optimism has once again returned to San Jose Sharks hockey.

If for no other reason than seeing Patrick Marleau back in teal.