San Jose Sharks defenseman John Klingberg said before the start of this season that the way he measures his game isn’t by how productive he is on the power play, but by how well he’s doing at even strength.
By that standard, Klingberg had a rough start to his Sharks tenure, with some on social media – sometimes rightly – questioning whether he can consistently be an asset to the team rather than a liability.
As a result of his inconsistencies, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky sat Klingberg in the press box a few times as a healthy scratch.
Lately, though, Klingberg’s played much more like the defenseman the Sharks hoped to get when they signed him to a one-year, $4 million contract in July.
Continuing a recent positive trend, Klingberg, 33, assisted on Dmitry Orlov’s second-period goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and scored the game-tying goal with just 1:25 left in regulation time.
That gave the Sharks the chance to complete the comeback, as center Alexander Wennberg scored at 2:49 of overtime to lift his team to a 3-2 win over the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, responding after a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
Going into Saturday’s date with the Pittsburgh Penguins to close out a five-game road trip, in which the Sharks have gone 2-2-0, Klingberg is on his first three-game point streak since near the end of the 2022-23 season when he was with the Minnesota Wild.
Klingberg finished with 22:38 in ice time against the Leafs, with whom he had only played 14 games in the 2023-24 season before needing double-hip resurfacing surgery.
“I thought he was our best defenseman tonight,” Warsofsky said of Klingberg. “He’s calmed his game down, especially at the offensive blue line. Kept his game more direct and simple, and that’s led to him being a little bit more confident with his puck play and defending.
“So he’s done a really good job. He was good tonight. I’m sure he was excited to play against his former team there.”
Warsofsky has wanted Klingberg to take some of the risk out of his game and make smart, simple plays instead. Hit more singles, so to speak, and don’t always try to knock one out of the park.
Perhaps less is more. Klingberg now has five points in his last three games, giving the Sharks some needed offense from the back end, as he’s now second among the team’s blueliners with 12 points in 23 games. Dmitry Orlov also scored Thursday and now has 17 points in 32 games.
“You try to stay positive,” Klingberg said when asked if his confidence ever wavered this season. “Sometimes it takes a toll on you, for sure. But I think you’ve got to realize, as you’re getting older, but also dealing with health issues, you’re not going to be the same player.
“I think I’m starting to understand more and more that I can’t chase the game like I used to do. It has to come to me, and just reading off the situation is better, and hopefully I can keep building on that.”
Klingberg said his first healthy scratch of the season, on Nov. 18 against the Utah Mammoth, served as a wake-up call that he needed to adjust his game.
“There’s been some hiccups, for sure,” Klingberg said. “But I think that was the time for me to reflect, to go back and just look at my game and see what I can do better, and I feel like I’ve been building since that. But obviously, for you guys and for everyone else, you see the production. Just because I had production the last three games, you guys think I’m back, but that’s not how it works.”
“I think I’ve been working hard the last few weeks here just to find my game. And right now, you see some production. It’s probably going to go up and down a little bit, but like I said, if I feel good and play well in my 5-on-5 game, it starts there. It’s going to take care of itself.”
While offense is not Klingberg’s primary focus, the Sharks are now 5-2-2 this season when he has at least one point. Plus, the Sharks will take any production they can find from the back end, as they now have a modest 52 points from the nine defensemen who have played games for the team.
The Sharks enter Friday with 33 points, one point ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks for the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference. A win Saturday would give the Sharks their second lengthy road trip with at least a .500 record after they went 2-2-0 on a four-game trip through the New York area and Minnesota in late October.
“It’s obviously a great feeling to score when you pull the goalie, leave it all out there offensively, and if you’re able to put one in the back of the net,” Klingberg said. “This team is resilient, and I think we’ll keep building every day to see where we can go.”