{"id":437197,"date":"2026-01-31T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437197\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T00:01:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:01:29","slug":"san-jose-sharks-alex-nedeljkovic-on-hot-streak-kiefer-sherwood-to-return-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437197\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks’ Alex Nedeljkovic on hot streak; Kiefer Sherwood to return?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2014 Considering Alex Nedeljkovic has won his last five starts<\/a> \u2013 posting a sparkling .931 save percentage<\/a> in the process \u2013 an argument can be made that the San Jose Sharks goalie is playing as well right now as he has all season.<\/p>\n

Part of it, from Nedeljkovic\u2019s standpoint, has been his mental approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to have the right attitude, the right mindset,\u201d Nedeljkovic said last Sunday before the Sharks left for their five-game road trip.<\/a> \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve had it at times throughout the year. At times it\u2019s maybe \u2026 trying to do too much. So, I think I\u2019m in a good spot right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always known what\u2019s working, and I found it and hit it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a> to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Following Draisaitl\u2019s 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<\/a> of the season.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 zone and one-timed a shot past goalie Askarov for his 22nd goal of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our 6-on-5 was not good enough and that\u2019s something that we\u2019ll look at,\u201d Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. \u201cThere were moments in the third where we needed to continue to make plays and push forward and we didn\u2019t do enough of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Nedeljkovic said he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s played really well,\u201d Warsofsky said last Sunday. \u201cHe\u2019s locked in, making some big save, timely saves, I think that would be the biggest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Thursday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Guys have been) playing really well in front of me too, so that obviously helps a lot,\u201d Nedeljkovic said. \u201cIt can get you into a rhythm a little bit sooner and be a little bit better. I think we\u2019re clicking all around.\u201d<\/p>\n

IORIO WAIVED, SHERWOOD CLOSE?<\/p>\n

The Sharks on Friday placed defenseman Vincent Iorio on waivers, clearing a roster spot for one or more of their players to be potentially activated off injured reserve.<\/p>\n

The Sharks were carrying 22 players, one short of the maximum, on their active roster and had three others \u2013 forwards Kiefer Sherwood<\/a> and Philipp Kurashev and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin \u2013 on IR.<\/p>\n

Warsofsky said last week that Mukhamadullin was getting closer to a return, and that he was optimistic that Kurashev and Sherwood could be activated before the end of the team\u2019s road trip. All three players were dealing with upper body injuries.<\/p>\n

Sherwood, who was acquired Jan. 19 from the Vancouver Canucks, was among the Sharks players who took part in an optional practice Friday in Calgary. The Sharks will see how Sherwood feels Saturday morning before deciding whether to activate him off IR.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old Iorio, who was scratched for a sixth straight game Thursday, was claimed by the Sharks on Oct. 16 after he had been put on waivers by the Washington Capitals a day earlier. He had three assists in 21 games with the Sharks and averaged 16:30 in ice time, mainly as a third pair defenseman.<\/p>\n

Teams have until Saturday morning to claim the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Iorio. If he goes unclaimed, he\u2019ll be assigned to the Barracuda of the AHL.<\/p>\n

After Saturday, the Sharks finish their five-game road trip with stops in Chicago on Monday and Colorado on Wednesday before the start of the Olympic break.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2014 Considering Alex Nedeljkovic has won his last five starts \u2013 posting a sparkling .931 save…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5127],"tags":[5807,26,146,5,6386,4,519,168,5306,5305,1780,1125],"class_list":{"0":"post-437197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose-sharks","8":"tag-alex-nedeljkovic","9":"tag-calgary-flames","10":"tag-edmonton-oilers","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-kiefer-sherwood","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-san-jose","15":"tag-san-jose-sharks","16":"tag-sanjose","17":"tag-sanjosesharks","18":"tag-sharks","19":"tag-yaroslav-askarov"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115986778404672389","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}