The San Jose Sharks will go all of October without a win

The National Hockey League is loaded with parity. They pride themselves on that as they should. Every team has good players that are worth buying a ticket to see. That even includes the 2023-24 San Jose Sharks.

However, of all the teams, things are tough for San Jose right now. It was cool to use Joe Thornton retiring as a distraction over the weekend but they are truly terrible. They are on a trajectory that could lead to them being one of the worst teams of all time.

Coming into Sunday, they were 0-7-1 looking for their first win of the year. They had one standings point with the OTL which is the worst in the league by far. They are the only team without a win. In fact, they are the only team without two wins.

On Sunday night, the Sharks took on the Washington Capitals in DC. San Jose hasn’t scored much this season so when Luke Kunin put one in halfway through the first period, it was very noteworthy. That would end the scoring in the first and second periods combined.

The San Jose Sharks came close to their first win but were denied late.

Yes, they were 20 minutes away from securing their first win of the season. It is most unfortunate that the third period did not go their way. Dylan Strome tied it 2:18 in. At 15:15, Tom Wilson scored to break the tie late in favor of the Capitals. From there, it wasn’t looking good for the Sharks.

Eventually, Evgeni Kuznetsov put one into the empty net and secured the 3-1 Washington Capitals victory. Washington was given a scare but they prevailed in the end. They stayed hard on the puck in the third period and it paid off for them. Now, the Sharks will go all of October without a single win.

The Sharks had a chance to win because of their goaltender. Mackenzie Blackwood faced 41 shots and saved 39 of them. This isn’t the first time that he has dominated like that this season. Despite not winning, he has been resurgent this season so far with the Sharks.

San Jose has seen a lot of great players leave town in recent years. They were in the Stanley Cup Final back in 2016 but that core is mostly gone. Even some of the more recent elite players that they acquired are already gone. Guys like Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Timo Meier, Erik Karlsson, and Brent Burns have all moved on either via trade, free agency, or retirement.

It is going to take a little bit for the Sharks to put together a group like that again. They never won the Cup but they were an overall top-five team from 2005-2020. Their fans know what success feels like.

Now, the 0-8-1 2023-24 Sharks didn’t expect to have a good year at all. They are in the rebuilding process which is fine but they need to get that first win pressure off their backs. Getting it won’t hurt their draft lottery odds in the spring.

Their next chance will come on Thursday night when they are back home to take on the Vancouver Canucks. That is a great all-time rivalry and it will be fun to see them match up against each other. Maybe the Sharks can finally snag a win.