San Jose Sharks - Last to Win in Three Consecutive Seasons
After the New York Islanders got their first win of the season on Oct. 16, the San Jose Sharks remained as the only team in the league without a win. This is now the third season in a row where the Sharks took the longest to get their first win, both in terms of calendar date and in terms of games played, as after losing to the Utah Mammoth on the 17th, the Sharks dropped to 0-2-2, and were therefore the only team this season to take four games to get their first win (they ended up needing seven). Let’s quickly go back and examine what went wrong in each of their last few starts to the season, starting with the 2022-2023 season where they actually weren’t the last team to win, but served as a prelude to what was to come.
2022-2023 - 0-5-0 Start
Although the 2022-2023 season is not a part of the streak of being the last team to win a game, the Sharks were still second last with a 0-5-0 start. The Vancouver Canucks were the only team that took longer to get their first win, where they started the season 0-5-2.
For the Sharks, they opened the season with back-to-back games against the Predators in Prague, losing both. The Sharks lost their third game against the Hurricanes, where they blew a 1-0 lead and gave up the game winner with under two minutes left in the game. Giving up late goals in tied games ended up being a theme for the 2022-2023 Sharks.
Games four and five were both 5-2 losses to the Blackhawks and Islanders respectively, until the Sharks finally won against the Rangers in New York in overtime.
While the Sharks would certainly not have a good season, they still finished above three other teams in the standings. Erik Karlsson won the Norris Trophy, a rare feat for a defencemen on a team as low in the standings as the 22-23 Sharks. He became the first defencemen to reach the 100 point milestone since Paul Coffey, and while his defensive skills were under question, there was no denying how truly dominant Karlsson was that season at breakouts and generating offense from the back end. However, that was about the only positive that came out of the Sharks that season, and after trading Karlsson in the off-season, they would become arguably the worst team in the history of the salary cap era.
2023-2024 - 0-10-1 Start
What was the most disastrous start in San Jose Sharks history, the 2023-2024 Sharks started out 0-10-1. Their only “close” game was their second game, a 2-1 shootout loss against the Colorado Avalanche. But the only reason the score looked close is because of goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood had arguably his greatest game of his life; he stopped 51 of 52 shots, while the Sharks only put up 21 shots themselves. In games 10 and 11 of this winless start, the Sharks lost 10-1 and 10-2 respectively. The Sharks became the first team since the 1965-1966 Boston Bruins to allow 10 goals in back-to-back games, and they did this in front of their home crowd at the Shark tank for both games. The Sharks were outscored 55-12 during this winless streak, scoring one goal or less in nine of the 11 games.
The Sharks finally won their first game of the season against the Philadelphia Flyers, a team they were on a 24-3-2-2 run against going into this game (24 wins, 3 regulation losses, 2 extra time losses, and 2 ties); meaning if there was one team that was going to lose to the Sharks, it was probably going to be the Flyers.
The Sharks would go on to have the fewest points of any team in the cap era in a full 82 game season (47), and the second lowest points percentage in a season (.287) in the cap era only behind the 2019-2020 Detroit Red Wings (.275).
2024-2025 - 0-7-2 Start
Last season, the Sharks came flying out of the gate and looked great in their first game. Macklin Celebrini scored his first goal and added a beautiful assist. The special teams were rolling, as Barclay Goodrow scored a shorthanded goal. Leading 4-1 against the St. Louis Blues, the Sharks would slowly blow the lead, and with the extra attacker, the Blues tied the game and would win it in overtime.
Macklin Celebrini would then miss multiple weeks with an injury, and despite being only 18, Celebrini was visibly the Sharks’ best player in their home opener. Missing Celebrini meant winning games would be an even more difficult task for the club. Some were close, some weren’t, the Sharks would lose their next eight games. In the 10th game of the season, the Sharks were down 4-1 against Utah with under five minutes to play. It looked like the Sharks would start the season on a double-digit losing streak for the second consecutive season. However, against all odds, the Sharks pulled off a miraculous comeback and won the game 5-4 in overtime for their first win.
The Sharks would end up winning three in a row, but ultimately would continue to lose the majority of their games, finishing last in the league again by the end of the season. However, they were undoubtedly improved over their 2023-2024 selves, even though they only improved by one win.
2025-2026 - 0-4-2 Start
The Sharks did not look bad in their first game of the 2025-2026 season. Leading 3-2 against the Vegas Golden Knights with under two minutes to play is no small feat. Close to their first ever regular season regulation win against the Knights, William Eklund almost buried the game with two grade A empty net chances. However, coming back the other way, Jack Eichel carried the puck up the ice and lobbed it into the Sharks zone, only for the puck to take an errant bounce and into the Sharks net past Alex Nedeljkovic. In overtime, Nedeljkovic came charging out to win the race to the puck on a potential Knights’ 2-on-0, only to shoot the puck into the shins of Reilly Smith, and the Knights won in overtime.
The second game would be similar, the Sharks attack looked great, but the defence and goaltending remained an issue. Leading 6-5 with under two to go, Anaheim Ducks’ newly acquired forward Chris Kreider tied the game, and Leo Carlsson got the game winner in overtime.
The Sharks’ next two games were much more lopsided, with a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes and a 6-3 loss to the Utah Mammoth. This would be followed by a 3-0 shutout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, ironically the only game this season where the Sharks had a good goaltending performance, before finally playing in a close game again, but losing 4-3 to the New York Islanders.
With a record of 0-4-2, the Sharks had lost six in a row until they finally won their first game of the season in New York against the Rangers 6-5 in overtime; I wonder where I’ve hear that before. Macklin Celebrini had a hat-trick and five points, and Will Smith had a pair of goals himself and four points.
While the Sharks can take the positives out of the youngsters looking further improved, and that their offense has been good overall to start the season, the defence and goaltending have both been troubling. However, now that they have finally earned their first win of the season, perhaps they can play with more confidence moving forward.
As bad as the Sharks have been for many years now, starting four consecutive seasons on a minimum five game losing streak is certainly not something to shrug off. Being the last team to win for three seasons in a row, and almost four in a row, is a not so fun fact for Sharks fans, but is a fun fact in the sense that it is something we may never see again.