The San Jose Sharks are mired in the midst of a season-high four game losing streak.

The Sharks recent struggles have opened doors for teams like the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers and even the Calgary Flames to wrestle the Pacific Division lead away. The Sharks had a nine point lead as early as last week.

The cushion may not be as thick as it once was, but it's certainly not time to panic. The boys in teal lost the last three games by a single goal and the loss to Minnesota came against a very desperate team. The Wild had lost five games in row themselves before beating SJ.

To be honest the Sharks have been skating through most of this regular season. The biggest difference may simply be the desperation of their opponents. The St. Louis Blues, Ducks and Wild are all jockeying for playoff position while the Stars are playing for pride.

San Jose's biggest concern may not be the wins and losses but simply staying healthy. Chris Tierney and Janik Hansen missed some playing time with varying degrees of injuries.

Looking at the standings today, Anaheim trails San Jose by just two points. While The Oilers and Flames trail by four and five points, respectively.

All four teams have nine game remaining on the regular season schedule, but four of the Sharks final nine games are against the Oilers and Flames.

Random thoughts:

- The Sharks rank 17th in the NHL in offense, averaging 2.7 goals per game. That number is down from the 2.89 goals per game they averaged last season.

- The offense is clearly suffering because the Sharks dramatic decline on the power play. Last season the Sharks were effective more than 22% of the time on the power play. This season they are a tick about 16%. That 6% drop is a real head-scratcher. San Jose boats a slew of power play aficionados and yet they are among the NHL's bottom feeders.

- Funny thing is, as ho-hum as this season has been for San Jose, they still have a shot to surpass last seasons win total of 46. San Jose has 42 wins and only needs to go 5-4-0 the rest of the way for do it. It's conceivable.

- Noah Rod. the Sharks 2014 second round pick is on his way to San Jose to join the Barracuda for the playoffs. He previously played for Genève-Servette of the NLA (Swiss Elite League).

- A few days ago, San Jose signed free agent center Tim Clifton to a two-year contract. Clifton finished his college career with 95 career points, including 25 points in 39 games this year.

The Sharks visit Dallas on Friday night.

thanks for reading,
Steve

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