We are halfway through the NHL, so what’s have we learned?

The San Jose Sharks haven’t run away with the West like some thought they would. But they should be fine, have been, fine, except for one teensy part…

You have to look under the surface with the Sharks. Because on it, they’re in third in the Pacific, though with no one behind them to worry about. They are in a season-long tussle with the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights. This is not how it was supposed to be.

But whereas everything has gone right for the Lightning, the Sharks haven’t been so lucky. Possession-wise, this is the league’s best team. They have the best team-Corsi-percentage in the league, meaning they have the largest share of attempts per game. They have the third-best expected goals percentage, meaning based on the shots and chances they generate vs. the ones they give up, they’re third-most on the right side of the ledger.

The power play and penalty kill are both top-10 as well. So why aren’t the Sharks dancing with Tampa in the executive lounge?

It’s hockey, so it must be the goaltending. And it is!

Martin Jones has been terrible. The Sharks have the worst even-strength save-percentage in the league, and there’s only so much you can do to get around that.

The question for the Sharks is what to do about it. This is Jones’s first down year in four as the Sharks starter. They need look no further than last year’s champs as a reason to keep the faith. Braden Holtby was a Vezina winner who couldn’t find up on the controller at all during last regular season. Than the playoffs rolled around, he snapped into gear, and Alex Ovechkin has been drunk ever since.

Still, the Sharks might feel more urgency. This is probably Joe Thornton‘s last season. Erik Karlsson, who has torn a hole in the world the last few weeks, might only be around this season. This is clearly their best chance. Can they afford to be so patient?

Everything else is there. However they figure it out, if they figure it out, is the only thing stopping the Sharks.