by Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks needless to say have been very inconsistent and every point matters now for the Sharks their outside of the playoffs their looking at a five point deficit right now between them and the Calgary Flames for the third spot in the playoffs a six point differential from the wild card. Things are not looking good for the Sharks, their playing for their lives right now, their battling, their trying and the Sharks in the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t look so hot although they took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission when they started taking shots on the net.

Everything matters now the Sharks are really playing for their season now and everything really matters. The Sharks going into Monday night’s game had lost nine of their last ten games at home and that’s one of the biggest reasons why their outside of the playoffs in 10th place in the Western Conference. They’ve had a very strange season this year because they started a lot of their games on the road.

The Sharks played a lot of games at home later and now their spending a lot of their season on the road towards the end of March with a seven game road trip. It could be a good thing for them because they play much better and positive on the road when the pressure is not on them. It really is those home games not being able to win at home against good teams and bad teams it’s really effecting them especially in the standings and they might miss the playoffs as a result of that.

When you look at veterans on this team like Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, and Patrick Marleau to name a few you have to look at the leadership of the team. When head coach Todd McClellan is asked he never points out at any specific players in interviews but he always says its the leadership and that everybody has to step up.

So far the Sharks have been really inconsistent, Thornton is the only one that’s been showing up night in and night out and has been a producer but players like Pavelski and Logan Couture their going through a dry spell. You have to look at them and you have to look at Marleau and his production and he’s been very inconsistent this season it’s really hurting them.

The one thing the Sharks have to focus on now is they have to win every night and with the three point games and a lot of teams playing between each other they really have to make it count. With every point loss it will add more and more concern for McClellan and he has to be more and more concerned if the Sharks can’t finish these games.

Ivan Makarov is a San Jose Sharks beat reporter for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below