The San Jose Sharks are in a full tail spin. I'm not just talk about one of those fancy air show type tail spins. I mean a full-fledged, white knuckle, out of control and going down in flames tail spin.

The Sharks have now dropped four straight games, following a 4-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. with the loss, San Jose now trails the L.A. Kings by nine points in the Pacific Division.

The Sharks came out strong putting up 14 shots and scoring two goals in the first period. Too bad they were unable to sustain that level of play over the final two periods of play.

They mustered up a combined 19 shots and no goals over the games final 40 minutes.

Head coach Pete Deboer yanked Martin Jones after allowing three goals on 14 shots. Alex Stalock replaced him and kept the game close, stopping 18 of the 19 shots he faced. But, it was already too late at that point.

Bottom line is...the Sharks did not play well, especially in their own end. The San Jose defenders looked like statues on skates. Nobody was moving their feet which allowed the Flames to dance around the zone unimpeded, passing the puck at will.

To be honest, it reminded me of the type of hockey the New Jersey Devils played under Deboer last season. Should I remind you that was a bad hockey team?

Time to move on.

Thankfully Arizona is just as bad right now. Losers of five in a row, the Coyotes failed to capitalize on the Sharks woes. The Sharks remain one-point ahead of Arizona and Anaheim in the Pacific.

San Jose has a chance to earn an Alberta split with a win over the Edmonton Oilers tonight. But, just like the Flames and unlike themselves....The Oilers are playing decent hockey and managed to string together three wins in a row.

What to watch for...

- As if ending the longest losing streak of the season isn't motivation enough...Todd Mclellan is the man behind the Oilers bench now. McLellan coached the Sharks for seven successful seasons from 2008-15 and amassed a record of 311-163-66. It's the first time the Sharks will face their old bench boss... and considering what went on last season... there has to be a little extra emotion involved.

- Will Alex Stalock get the call again? Or will PDB go back to a shaky Martin Jones?

- Logan Couture had an assist in his first game back from injury. Can he be the guy that helps get the Sharks offense going again?

- The Sharks have put up 30 or more shots in three of the four games during this losing streak and yet they have just six goals to show for it.

Meanwhile they have allowed more than 29 shots once over the same span, but have allowed 14 goals.

Something has got to give here.

- San Jose equaled its longest regulation losing streak of the entire 2014-15 season. They lost four in a row once from Oct. 19 to Oct. 25.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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