Now or never? Sharks get some good news with playoff hopes in the balance

SAN JOSE – Time is starting to run out for the San Jose Sharks to save their season.

Maybe it comes down to this week, or even their next game.

With their playoff hopes dwindling, the Sharks start a three-city road trip with their biggest game of the year so far on Tuesday when they face the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

The Sharks, losers of four straight and stuck on 70 points for over a week, have just 14 games left and enter Tuesday five points back of the Predators for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, with two games in hand. They’re also seven points behind the Edmonton Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division, with three games in hand.

A win on Tuesday could give the Sharks (32-30-6) some badly needed momentum as they continue their road trip with stops in St. Louis on Thursday and Columbus on Saturday. A loss in regulation time could start to put a wild card spot out of reach, with the Sharks now tied for 11th place in the West, and behind the Los Angeles Kings and Seattle Kraken.

Their playoff hopes, as of Monday, were at 15.8%, per Moneypuck.com. So it’s pretty much now or never for the Sharks, who have been wound too tight with each game carrying greater importance.

“Everyone knows it’s an important game,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Tuesday. “But again, we’ve just got to play, and we’ve got to compete and do the things that we do well, more consistently than we’ve been doing, and the rest will take care of itself.”

One positive for the Sharks: They are on the verge of getting some injured players back.

Forwards Tyler Toffoli, Ty Dellandrea, and Igor Chernyhov, defensemen Vincent Desharnais, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov all practiced Monday morning in San Jose before the team’s flight to Nashville.

Toffoli, the Sharks’ third leading scorer with 44 points, wasn’t on the flight to Tennessee but will likely be able to join the team at some point on the trip, Warsofsky said. Toffoli suffered a lower-body injury in the first period of last Thursday’s 5-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres and had to miss Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Chernyshov and Desharnais could be options to play against the Predators, said Warsofsky, who added that forward Ryan Reaves (hand injury), is now considered week-to-week. With only three-plus weeks left in the regular season, it’s unclear as to whether Reaves will be able to return if the Sharks do not make the playoffs.

Chernyshov, who sustained a head injury in the Sharks’ game against the Montreal Canadiens on March 14, took line rushes with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith on Monday morning. Chernyshov was on that line in Montreal before his injury, which caused him to miss the last four games.

Desharnais, who also had to miss Saturday’s game with an upper body injury, was paired with Nick Leddy during Monday’s practice. Dellandrea, out since Jan. 6 with a lower-body injury, skated without any restrictions Monday and traveled with the team to Nashville, although it was unknown when he would be cleared to play.

Askarov hasn’t played since March 10, when he allowed five goals on 25 shots in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The initial word from Warsofsky was that Askarov “tweaked something” the morning of the team’s game against the Boston Bruins on March 12, but Askarov said Monday he was injured the day before during practice.

Askarov did not expect the injury to keep him out for close to two weeks, as the Sharks went 2-4-0 in his absence. While it was unknown whether Askarov would start against the Predators, who drafted him 11th overall in 2020, he’s at least in a spot where he can back up Alex Nedeljkovic.

With Askarov back, goalie Laurent Brossoit was reassigned to the Barracuda.

The Sharks have been outscored 18-8 on a manned net during their four-game skid, with their problems coming at both ends of the ice.

During the losing streak, the Sharks, per Natural Stat Trick, have allowed 45 high-danger chances, fourth most in the NHL in that time. They’ve also scored just seven even-strength goals, with none coming from Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Alex Wennberg, or William Eklund, four of their top five scorers this season.

“Just the little details,” Toffoli said when asked what’s been missing. “I think a lot of our mistakes are ending up in the back of our net. Obviously, it’s a little frustrating, but (with) a couple of bounces here or there, it can go the other way. We’ve just got to stick with it.”

Warsofsky talked to the group early Monday morning.

“We’ve just got to loosen up here a little bit,” Warsofsky said of his message. “These guys have been playing hockey, some of them, since they were two years old. The game doesn’t change much. We’ve just got to get back to enjoying the game and where we’re at and embrace the situation and where we are.

“No one thought we’d be here, but we’re here. But we also can’t grip it and really try to force things. Just play and just compete.”

WARSOFSKY REMEMBERS PIERCE

Warsofsky expressed his condolences Monday to the family of Jessi Pierce, an NHL reporter who, along with her three young children, were killed Saturday in a house fire in Minnesota.

Pierce, 37, had covered the Minnesota Wild as the NHL.com correspondent for the past decade, regularly interacting with and reporting on the visiting team.

“Just a lovely person that we got to know, going to Minnesota. My thoughts and prayers are with her family,” Warsofsky said. “Every time you went into Minnesota, she was always smiling. Just a tragic event. Loved the game, and did a great job covering the Minnesota Wild. My heart breaks for the family.”