The San Jose Sharks are sinking and time is running out

The San Jose Sharks’ season is sinking fast and despite the changes made at head coach, things need to be fixed quickly before time runs out.

Where have things gone wrong for the San Jose Sharks this season? Perhaps a better question remains, where have they gone right?

The Sharks sit at a lowly 16-20-2 record and have lost 9 of their last 10 games. That lone win came against a middle-of-the-pack Vancouver Canucks team and also represents their only victory this month.

It’s safe to say that the Bob Boughner era hasn’t gone according to plan in San Jose.

The Sharks fired head coach Peter DeBoer back on December 11th in the hope that his departure would breathe new life into a struggling Sharks organization. Yet, since his firing, the team hasn’t won a game.

In reality, many of the same issues that plagued the Sharks while he was at the helm still do today.

Third periods continue to be a nightmare, top-six forwards remain invisible most nights, and the team’s goaltending is still an inconsistent mess.

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To expound on those three issues a bit, the Sharks have been outscored in the third period by 24 goals this season and have allowed 51 goals in the final 20 minutes. As Tomas Hertl bluntly put it on Friday, the Sharks have played maybe “one or two” full, 60-minute games this season.

That’s not exactly a recipe for success.

Meanwhile, Timo Meier has two goals in his past 10 games. Kevin Labanc has one goal in his past 16 games. Evander Kane has two goals in his past 18 games. Brent Burns has one goal in his past 18 games. All the while, Joe Thornton is still searching for his first goal of the season.

Players the Sharks were counting on going into the season, simply aren’t contributing. That was the story under DeBoer and it certainly hasn’t changed under Boughner.

And the exact same is true for Martin Jones and Aaron Dell who continue to flip-flop in goal to little success.

Some will continue to wait for the season to turn around. Some will say to give the players time to learn Boughner’s system.

But in the meantime, the Sharks are sinking — and they’re sinking fast.

With Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Sharks now sit tied dead last in the Western Conference with only 34 points. Only the Detroit Red Wings have more regulation losses on the seasons.

Things are bleak in San Jose and evidently a coaching change wasn’t the solution — or at least it hasn’t been yet.

Time is running out for the Sharks to save their season. And while some may continue to wait for the team to right the ship, that waiting process is getting harder and harder to trust.

The ship is sinking and soon it will be too late to patch up the holes.