WASHINGTON, D.C. — This isn’t Peter Pan.
But in sports, as in life, the power of belief can carry you a long way.
There is something special going on in the San Jose Sharks’ locker room.
Head coach Ryan Warsofsky tried to quantify it last Wednesday, after the Sharks came back last minute to stun the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in OT.
“Sitting with the coaches in there, it’s the first time in my four years, where there’s this emotion in our locker room,” Warsofsky said, touching on when he started as an assistant coach for the Sharks in 2022-23. “It’s hard to even put into words, the feeling that we get after that type of game, that emotional win. But there’s some real good stuff going on right now.”
He added: “Credit to the group that they’ve put in the work. They understand how we want to play. They just stick with it. They don’t give up. But the feeling in that locker room is pretty special.”
Sticking with it, that’s exactly what the San Jose Sharks did at the Washington Capitals on Thursday. And that’s what they’ve been doing, against teams good and bad, especially since their incredible comeback win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 13. Including their Dec. 11 comeback win at the Toronto Maple Leafs, they’re 10-5-0 in their last 15 games.
They could’ve been discouraged by Dylan Strome putting them down 1-0 in the second period, despite outplaying the Caps, up to that point. But instead, they dropped three goals in 2:46 from Zack Ostapchuk, Collin Graf, and Pavol Regenda, outplayed a solid Caps side for two periods, then Alex Nedeljkovic did the rest, to pull out a 3-2 victory.
Of course, it’s not just about belief, it’s also about talent, and the Sharks, between the emergence of Macklin Celebrini as one of the best players in the world, the likes of Graf and Regenda and more making the team deeper up front, Dmitry Orlov leading a scrappy defense, and Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov between the pipes, San Jose has just enough talent.
If Celebrini stays healthy, the San Jose Sharks are making the playoffs for the first time since 2019. They believe, and more than halfway into the season, 45 of 46 games on site, I believe, too.
Here are five more reasons, briefly, why I think the Sharks will qualify for the post-season:
San Jose, according to Tankathon and hat tip to JD Young of Locked On Sharks for pointing this out, have the weakest strength of schedule for the rest of the season in the NHL. And it gets easier after the Olympics: Their toughest opponents, right now, appear to be the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens. They have 27 post-Olympic games, 18 of them against teams currently out of the playoffs. Of course, they have to get to the Olympics and get through upcoming contests at the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche with their heads above water. Beating Washington, who embarrassed them 7-1 last month, is a good start.
I believe GM Mike Grier has to, and will, add to this team.
It appears that they’ve got some depth anyway, so far surviving injuries to forwards like Will Smith and defensemen like John Klingberg, among others. On the blueline, they will need Orlov and Mario Ferraro, most importantly, to stay relatively healthy.
As Warsofsky alluded to, the Sharks have a style of play that’s working for them, and it’s still working for them, even though the opposition isn’t surprised by them anymore. They also appear to be getting better as a team, instead of worse, a credit to youngsters like Graf and Ostapchuk and William Eklund and Sam Dickinson and Vincent Iorio and more, who are giving the Sharks good minutes.
Askarov has played one spectacular month this season, sporting a .944 Save % in November. San Jose has managed to keep winning without his best. But I expect that he will get hot again, he certainly has the talent to. One more great month from him could be just enough to push San Jose into the post-season, with everything else that is going right around him.
Macklin Celebrini
Pavol Regenda
Regenda was happy to notch his 1st assist this year on Graf’s goal, joking: “Finally, I got some assists, I told him.”
Regenda now has 7 goals and 1 assist in 9 NHL games this season
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 16, 2026
Dmitry Orlov
Orlov, on the belief in the San Jose Sharks room:
It’s [getting] better and better. We get more confidence. When you’re winning, you believe in each other. You believe in your system. You believe what you’re doing…I think [it’s a] huge difference between last year and this year.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky, on case that Regenda is making to stay up with #SJSharks: “He’s doing a lot. He’s scoring. He’s a big man. He protects pucks. He’s playing the right way. He’s doing a lot of good things. He’s really focused on his opportunity.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 16, 2026
Warsofsky, on switching Regenda for Chernyshov: “That line just looked off, to be honest with you. Reggie is a pretty direct player. I think we needed some more direct play in our game, and I think that helped.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 16, 2026
