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Sharks captain Joe Pavelski could not have summed up the situation better than the Sharks' 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
"This team can always reach another level," he told reporters in Edmonton.
Of course, the Sharks did good things in Thursday's win. Heck, enter the column of victories at all after the race, they progressed. But with only one more game to play before the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the team still has to work before they consider themselves ready for the playoffs.
"I still think improvements are possible," Pavelski said. "In the future, as atmospheres develop in distant buildings and teams get in a hurry, we have to stay in attack and stay aggressive."
The Sharks had only 2:03 in the match, but bounced back to take a 2-1 lead in the first intermission. When the Oilers drew early in the second period, San Jose found the answer difficult to avoid in Tuesday's loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
"Win or lose, I think we wanted to do the right things," said Logan Couture after the game. "I think we have done good things, but there are still things we need to work on."
Couture even went so far as to suggest that being in the winning column was secondary to restoring good habits.
"At this time of year, in these games, you take away the victory and you want to play the game you want to play in a week or two," he said. "For a lot of this game, I thought we were doing a good job."
San Jose has certainly done a much better job in holding a defensive game, blocking 16 shots against 7 in Edmonton. The Sharks also played a good physical match – something they will need against the Vegas Golden Knights once the playoffs begin – beating the Oilers 24-15. Accessories must also go to goalkeeper Aaron Dell, who rebounded after giving a goal on the first shot. Without some of Dell's seven saves in the third period, the Sharks may not have won.
But Dell's big shutdowns also revealed an area in which the Sharks have yet to improve, and this is gaining momentum while eliminating opponents. When San Jose was at his best this season, scoring relentlessly goals and defense.
In the last two regular season games of the regular season, the Sharks have not been able to increase their lead by a goal. That did not bite them against Edmonton as against Vancouver, but the conclusion is the same: the Sharks can not let their opponents hang around. Golden Knights can be hard to beat if you give them too much extra space to play, especially in the playoffs.
"I would always like to put teams away and get some cushion there," summed Sharks coach Peter DeBoer.
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With a goal lead in the third period, the Sharks did not put the pedal on. The Oilers scored a 7-5 win late in the game, and four of Edmonton's shots were led by front-row threats Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
"I think we could have done a better job by attacking the third period. I thought we were sitting too much on our heels, "he said. "We would have liked to see us attack a little more instead of sitting down and giving them open ice.What this front line likes to have .I would have changed that."
But all in all, the good things the Sharks did on Thursday will bring them closer to their preparation for the playoffs next week. However, they still have some folds to correct and another regular season game to fix them.
"We are working our way there," said DeBoer. "It has not happened yet but I am confident it will be the case next week."
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