Streaking Sharks face tough schedule after the holidays
A season-high, five-game winning streak - snapped Thursday by a hot Winnipeg team - has the Sharks headed in the right direction. The road they are about to travel, however, is littered with caution signs.
San Jose closes the pre-Christmas schedule with winnable weekend games against Los Angeles and Arizona at home where the Sharks are 11-4-2. They've cleaned up defensively of late and have raised their compete level overall to sit in a playoff spot.
The challenge will be sustaining or even achieving a higher level of play over the final 44 games of the season because it's not an easy go. The Sharks play 28 games against the 15 teams in playoff position before Friday's action.