Sharks set NHL record with historic losing streak to start season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Sharks didn’t break into the NHL record books on Saturday night, but not in the way one would expect.
San José’s 7-3 defeat to the Las Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Center made the Sharks the first team in NHL history to lose nine straight games to start back-to-back seasons.
After a promising opening night in which San Jose nearly ushered in a new era on a high note, it’s been all downhill for the Sharks as they lost their ninth straight game, with their most recent loss coming at the hands of one of the franchise’s biggest rivals.
This comes one season after San Jose began the 2023-24 NHL season with 11 consecutive losses, tying the league record for most losses to start a campaign.
It’s been a particularly rough start for first-year coach Ryan Warsofsky, who is two losses away from tying the NHL record for consecutive losses to begin a coaching career.
“Good” news for Warsofsky: He’s still a couple games away from the worst start to an NHL coaching career.
Andre Tourigny lost his first 11 games (0-10-1) with the Arizona Coyotes in 2021-22
—Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 27, 2024
Injuries have certainly played a role, as No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini hasn’t played a game since his stellar NHL debut while caring for a lower body ailment.
Although the team’s success has yet to come this season, Mikael Granlund continued his strong tour with another goal in Saturday’s loss.
It was always going to be a bumpy ride for the Sharks, as they integrated a core of young talent with a handful of newly acquired veterans, but it would have been difficult to predict a historically poor start like this. Particularly after San Jose led 4-1 in the third period of their opening loss to the St. Louis Blues.
The Sharks will look for their first win of the season in their opening regular season matchup against the Utah Hockey Club at 6 pm PT on Monday night.