DALLAS — The San Jose Sharks are facing lots of reality checks recently.

This was a different sort of splash of water to the face, in a closer-than-the-score 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Two things stood out, as the Sharks fell back to 13-13-3.

In the first period, the Sharks were a step behind from the drop of the puck, ceding the first seven shots and a Jason Robertson power play goal through the first 14 minutes of action.

What I didn’t like was, I wouldn’t call it a refusal, but when the game’s not going your way and your east-west passes aren’t connecting, I believe a more mature team plays more north-south. San Jose didn’t do that, going for a steady diet of passes into the slot that a disciplined Dallas squad was turning away.

Finally, on their fourth shot of the game, 28 minutes in, the Sharks finally broke through, by going north-south (or south-north) and crashing the net.

Graf gets us tied! 👏 pic.twitter.com/uR3rmPwrYz

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 6, 2025

“Yeah, just simplify our game, sometimes,” Graf said, on the message from the Sharks’ coaching staff. “Obviously, things weren’t going our way last game and we weren’t generating a whole lot today, so I think it’s just trying to get pucks to the net.”

No one is saying that Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith and William Eklund and company shouldn’t try to make east-west plays, but that “simplify our game, sometimes” lesson is still being learned. There’s a time and a place for that.

Second thing that stood out, in a 1-1 standoff midway into the third period, the Sharks weren’t able to pick their defensive game up in the clutch.

In almost one-on-one scenarios, Sam Steel beat Timothy Liljegren, then Mikko Rantanen smoked Ty Dellandrea, to give the Stars a 3-1 lead, 5:43 apart.

Frankly, there’s a talent disparity here: Liljegren, albeit talented, is miscast as a high-leverage defender on a shallow Sharks’ defense, and Rantanen is Rantanen.

In any game, even the deepest team will face some mismatches, of course, but lest San Jose’s 9-5-1 November and Yaroslav Askarov’s .944 Save % that month fooled you, the still-rebuilding Sharks still don’t have the depth to compete with the best teams in the league on a regular basis, in both maturity and defensive talent.

Now the Stars didn’t eviscerate the Sharks like the Washington Capitals or Colorado Avalanche did, but to quote Orlov after the Caps’ 7-1 rout, “Think for [this] game, adults play against kids?”

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky says that Graf was #SJSharks best player tonight

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 6, 2025

Warsofsky, on how Liljegren can improve:

He’s a defenseman that can kill plays and transport pucks and move pucks, play a simple brand of hockey and defend with purpose. Those are the things that he needs to do better consistently.

Timothy Liljegren

Liljegren, on the Sam Steel game-winner:

Their D shot the puck, I blocked it, and their forward made a cutback on me. I got back too late on him, stuff that’s been happening a little bit too much as late for me. I feel like that’s on me, and I gotta play way better. Feel like I’ve been playing pretty shit lately.

Liljegren, on how he can improve:

I just feel like last while, I’ve been playing solid and then it’s a big mistake that ends up in our net. Just got to play a full 60 minutes. Think I’m -8 last three, four games, whatever, and just not good enough. I want to be a player that plays that top pair and plays against other teams’ top guys, and just haven’t been playing good enough.

Collin Graf

Graf, on his goal and the message from the San Jose Sharks coaching staff to generate more offense:

Yeah, just simplify our game, sometimes. Obviously, things weren’t going our way last game and we weren’t generating a whole lot today, so I think it’s just trying to get pucks to the net.

Graf, on what did the Sharks did right in the middle part of the game that they can carry over to their next game:

Skate. We got a lot of fast guys on our team. Got to put pucks deep and skate and make it hard on their D, and then they get it out, skate and backcheck and get the puck back. It’s as simple as skating.

Jeff Skinner

Skinner, on why the San Jose Sharks had so much trouble generating offense in the first period:

We had some trouble. Obviously, it’s a good team. There’s not a lot of space. Couldn’t really get to the inside much. They closed the lanes up and were blocking shots.