The San Jose Sharks continue their push to jump into a playoff position when they play host to the St. Louis Blues on Friday.
The Sharks sit three points back of the Seattle Kraken for the Western Conference’s second wild-card position, with a pair of games in hand. San Jose has 23 games remaining in the regular season.
The young team was reminded about the importance of focus in its latest outing, a wild 7-5 home victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
San Jose relinquished a 5-2 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the third period but recovered with a pair of late goals.
“We’ve said all year, we’ve learned lessons along the way,” coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “You go up 5-2, and you probably come off the gas just for a little bit, and a skilled team like that will make you pay. I liked the resiliency of our group to just keep playing and get back to competing.”
San Jose has won three straight in its quest to snap a six-year playoff drought. Considering how many times the Sharks blew leads and lost the past few seasons, this is the kind of game that can become a building block.
“We’re confident, our group,” said rising star Macklin Celebrini, who collected his 30th goal of the season and registered the fifth four-plus-point game of his career against the Habs. “We’re not panicking when games are going not as good as we went them to … but we have a confidence and calm we didn’t have last year.”
San Jose has been quiet in the final days leading up to the Friday afternoon trade deadline. The biggest news is that forward Kiefer Sherwood, acquired in January from the Vancouver Canucks, signed a five-year contract extension on Wednesday.
The Blues are in a different position heading into the clash.
St. Louis sits 12 points outside of a playoff position heading into Thursday night but arrives in Northern California on a two-game winning streak, with the latest result a 3-2 road victory over the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.
“We’re playing better hockey,” said forward Brayden Schenn, whose team has won three of four games since the Olympic break. “Making a few more plays with the puck, defending better. … We’ve got to keep this going and keep building and playing for one another.”
With their playoff hopes all but eliminated, the Blues have lately made more news off the ice.
Fortunately for those on the team, the trade deadline will have passed before puck drop because St. Louis has been besieged with trade rumors surrounding key veteran players, with the likes of Schenn, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Colton Parayko and Jordan Binnington part of the rumor mill.
Parayko reportedly invoked his no-trade clause on Thursday to quash a trade that would have sent him to the Buffalo Sabres, causing more intrigue surrounding the club.
On Thursday, the Blues placed forward Mathieu Joseph on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Joseph, 29, has collected 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 39 games for St. Louis this season.
