SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San Jose prospect Will Smith likes to fire up YouTube and watch the Sharks' epic Game 7 comeback against Vegas for inspiration. Smith was just a 14-year-old kid living on the other side of the country during that memorable 2019 playoff game.
But now he has joined No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini as reasons for optimism that the Sharks can get back to that level after a five-year stretch as the worst team in the NHL. “How loud it was,” he said about his memory of that first-round game.
San Jose overcame a 3-0 deficit in the third period to beat the Golden Knights 5-4 in overtime and Smith has asked his new teammates about it now that he is ready to make his debut with the Sharks. “Seeing the Shark Tank like that is pretty crazy. They were telling me it was so loud, their ears were just ringing the entire time.
It's our goal to get it back to that,” he said. San Jose went to the Western Conference final that year for the fifth time in a span of 15 seasons that included 14 playoff berths, the most regular-season wins in the NHL and second-most playoff wins. Since then the franchise known for getting close so often but never hoisting the Stanley Cup has been the worst in the NHL, bottoming out with a 19-win season in 2023-24.
The Sharks were outscored by 147 goals, excluding shootouts, for the 12th-worst mark ever and the worst in the NHL in 30 years. San Jose set a franchise record for fewest goals scored per game (2.18) and had the fourth-w.