Considering Alex Nedeljkovic has won his last five starts – posting a sparkling .931 save percentage in the process – an argument can be made that the San Jose Sharks goalie is playing as well right now as he has all season.

Part of it, from Nedeljkovic’s standpoint, has been his mental approach.

“Just trying to have the right attitude, the right mindset,” Nedeljkovic said last Sunday before the Sharks left for their five-game road trip. “I feel like I’ve had it at times throughout the year. At times it’s maybe … trying to do too much. So, I think I’m in a good spot right now.

“I’ve always known what’s working, and I found it and hit it.”

Nedeljkovic could be back in net Saturday afternoon when the Sharks (27-21-4) play the Calgary Flames (21-26-6), hoping to bounce back from a stinging 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Starting goalie Yaroslav Askarov stopped 20 shots through the first two periods as the Sharks built a 3-0 lead. But the Oilers, led by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, turned up the pressure.

Following Draisaitl’s goal at the 1:34 mark of the third, the Sharks managed just two shots on net, and none in the final eight minutes. McDavid and Bouchard both scored in the final 3:05 of regulation time, with an extra attacker on the ice, before Zach Hyman scored in overtime to send the Sharks to one of their most bitter losses of the season.

On the winning goal, Timothy Liljegren turned the puck over to the Oilers. Later, Hyman shoved Liljegren into the crease, took a pass from McDavid in the Sharks’ zone and one-timed a shot past goalie Askarov for his 22nd goal of the season.

“I think our 6-on-5 was not good enough and that’s something that we’ll look at,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “There were moments in the third where we needed to continue to make plays and push forward and we didn’t do enough of that.”

Up until Thursday, though, the Sharks had been near-perfect in that area, going 19-0-1 this season when they led after two periods.

Nedeljkovic said he’s been the beneficiary of that. After winning just three of his first 10 starts this season, sometimes due to situations out of his control, as he enters Saturday with a 10-8-2 record and an .899 save percentage.

“He’s played really well,” Warsofsky said last Sunday. “He’s locked in, making some big save, timely saves, I think that would be the biggest thing.”

Despite Thursday’s result, the Sharks still enter Saturday tied with the Utah Mammoth for the best points percentage (.700) of any Western Conference team since the Christmas break. With 10 wins in their last 15 games, the Sharks are now just outside of a playoff spot and also one point back of the Seattle Kraken for third place in the Pacific Division.

“(Guys have been) playing really well in front of me too, so that obviously helps a lot,” Nedeljkovic said. “It can get you into a rhythm a little bit sooner and be a little bit better. I think we’re clicking all around.”

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