Admit it, Sharks fans. You may have been really worried.
And certainly, San Jose's 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues last night on the road shouldn't take away any worries about this team's Jekyll and Hyde start to the 2013 National Hockey League season.
But at least maybe fans in San Jose can breathe a little easier, for the moment.
The Sharks broke a seven-game losing streak with a come-from-behind win over the team that knocked them out of the postseason last spring, and while it wasn't pretty, a win is a win.
With an 8-4-3 record now, San Jose also stopped its free fall from the top of the Western Conference, as the win put the Sharks into fifth place.
All things considered, that's not so bad after a seven-game losing streak.
Antti Niemi made 25 saves in the win last night, while Joe Thornton scored in the second period to tie up the game at one goal apiece. Tim Kennedy got the game-winning goal in the third frame.
The win doesn't hide San Jose's offensive woes, however -- the Sharks were still 0-for-4 on the power play. For the season now, the team is just at 18.9% on special teams.
That's good enough for 12th in the league, but considering the offensive skills the team has, there is definite room for improvement.
Next up for the Sharks is their third matchup in seven games against the Chicago Blackhawks. San Jose lost at home to the West's top team as well as on the road last week.
In fact, the Blackhawks are 13-0-3 currently, the best start in NHL history.
It'll be a tall order for the Sharks to go into Chicago and beat a team that's outscored them, 9-4, this year in the two prior matchups.
Perhaps the best news is that San Jose will be done facing the Blackhawks in the regular season.
So unless they want to get swept, the Sharks will need to step up their game on Friday night.
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