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The San Jose Sharks sit 12th in the Western Conference in points percentage heading into the Holiday Break – but their 15-14-1 record through 30 games this season has undoubtedly come as a pleasant surprise.
While their goals per game is essentially identical to last season and still ranks near the bottom of the league, their scoring has been more spread out. This is somewhat impressive in itself, considering Evander Kane, who led the team in both goals and points last year, is no longer on the roster. I’ve already talked about the positive impact of Alexander Barabanov and Jonathan Dahlen in a previous article, but Timo Meier’s impact has been huge as well, while Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl have been contributing as expected.
On the blue line, Erik Karlsson is having a huge bounce back season, with 19 points in 24 games so far, and has been noticeably better defensively at times early on. Brent Burns continues to take on a huge workload as well, while Mario Ferraro seems to be continually making progress.
A huge factor in the team's minor success has been the performance of James Reimer. The 33-year-old netminder has shown his $2.25 million cap hit to be an absolute steal so far, posting an outstanding .936 save percentage through 16 games. While San Jose’s defense has been better this year overall, compare that to Adin Hill’s .900 save percentage in the same number of games and it’s clear just how important of an addition Reimer has been.
Obviously, there are still issues. The team lacks scoring at the top of their lineup and probably needs two more legitimate top-six forwards. The Sharks would also need one more true top-four defenseman to round out the top of their defense group and Adin Hill has been pretty shaky at times so far as well.
That said, while there’s a long way to go, it’s been a surprisingly decent start to the season for the Sharks. While it’s unlikely that this will be the year they get back into the postseason and I still generally question the direction of the organization, it’s been nice to see the Sharks as a more competitive team throughout much of the season so far.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Sharks on a roll, have won four of last five games
Sharks drop last two games of road trip but remain competitive in Pacific
Sharks sign Brandon Coe
Sharks rally back for win over division-leading Flames
Sharks’ comeback falls short against Wild
Alexander Barabanov, Jonathan Dahlen becoming key contributors for Sharks
Sharks hang on for 2-1 win over Stars
Sharks lose to Kraken, Kellman’s contract terminated, Labanc needs surgery
Sharks drop another home game, lose to Canucks
Sharks’ upcoming games against Canucks and Oilers postponed 
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