The 1993–94 San Jose Sharks season was the team's third season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). It saw the Sharks finish in third place in the Pacific Division with a record of 33 wins, 35 losses, and 16 ties for 82 points, clinching the eighth and final playoff spot in the newly rebranded Western Conference. San Jose achieved the largest turnaround in NHL history, recording a 58-point improvement from the previous season. Their 33 wins and 82 points in 1993–94 were more than their win and point totals in their first two seasons combined. In the playoffs, the Sharks upset the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Quarterfinals. However, they fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the Conference Semifinals.
This was the first season in which the Sharks actually played in San Jose. After playing their first two seasons at the Cow Palace in Daly City, the Sharks moved into the brand new San Jose Arena for the 1993–94 season.
Offseason The Sharks selected Viktor Kozlov with their first-round pick, sixth overall.
Newly acquired forward Bob Errey, was named team captain. He replaced the retired Doug Wilson.
Regular season
The Sharks had the fewest shots on goal (2,101) out of all 26 teams during the regular season.
Season standings
Playoffs
Conference Quarterfinals In 1993–94, the Sharks made the playoffs for the first time in their history, qualifying as the eighth seed in the Western Conference despite being the only playoff team to have a losing record during the regular season. In the Conference Quarterfinals, they faced the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings, who featured Hockey Hall of Fame members Dino Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey, Sergei Fedorov, Mark Howe, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Steve Yzerman (in addition to Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman) and were a favorite to win the Stanley Cup. However, the Sharks silenced the crowd at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena by taking Game 1, 5–4, on a late goal by 18-year-old defenseman Vlastimil Kroupa. After the Red Wings won the next two contests – a 22-save, 4–0 shutout by rookie goaltender Chris Osgood in Game 2 and a 3–2 victory in Game 3 to spoil the Sharks' first-ever home playoff game – San Jose rallied behind goaltender Arturs Irbe to win Games 4 and 5. Detroit stormed back in Game 6, scoring the first five goals en route to a 7–1 drubbing of the Sharks to force a decisive Game 7. Johan Garpenlov and Sergei Makarov gave the Sharks a quick 2–0 lead, but Detroit's Kris Draper scored near the end of the first period and Vyacheslav Kozlov tied the game 2–2 early in the second period. At 13:25 of the third period, Red Wings goaltender Osgood was caught out of position trying to pass the puck up the left-side boards. The puck went right to San Jose's Jamie Baker, who fired it into the empty net for the go-ahead goal. The Sharks held on for a shocking 3–2 victory and a 4–3 series win, completing one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup Playoffs history.
Conference Semifinals In the Conference Semifinals, the Sharks took on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were the conference's third seed and had defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Conference Quarterfinals. The two teams alternated victories in the series' first five games. As in their first-round series against Detroit, San Jose won the first game on the road, this time by a 3–2 score, as Johan Garpenlov scored the game-winning goal with 2:16 remaining. However, Toronto took Game 2, 5–1, as five different Maple Leaf players scored and three goals came on the power play. The two teams then shifted to the West Coast, where an Ulf Dahlen hat trick and aggressive checking keyed the Sharks to a 5–2 victory in Game 3, but the Leafs came back with a dominant special teams effort in Game 4, scoring two power-play goals and two short-handed goals – one of each coming from Dave Andreychuk – in an 8–3 rout of the Sharks. In Game 5, San Jose's Russian duo of Sergei Makarov and Igor Larionov, who had been held off the score sheet in the previous three games, came to life for three goals and five assists combined in a 5–2 win that put the team one win away from the Conference Finals heading into Game 6 in Toronto. This contest, tied at 2–2, went into overtime, where San Jose missed two opportunities to seal another astonishing upset. First, at 1:11 into the extra period, Garpenlov's shot beat Toronto goaltender Felix Potvin, but rang off the crossbar. Then, 3:20 into overtime, Sandis Ozolinsh chose to pass to Larionov during a 3-on-2 rush despite having room to shoot between two Toronto defensemen. The Leafs finally won the game 3–2 at 8:53 of overtime on a Mike Gartner goal to force a seventh game. In Game 7, also in Toronto, Wendel Clark scored two goals in a 4–2 Leafs victory as Toronto took the series 4–3 and advanced to the Conference Finals against the Vancouver Canucks.
Schedule and results
Regular season
|1||October 6, 1993||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94) ||0–1–0 ||
|2||October 7, 1993||2–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Calgary Flames (1993–94) ||0–2–0 ||
|3||October 10, 1993||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94) ||0–3–0 ||
|4||October 14, 1993||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Calgary Flames (1993–94) ||0–4–0 ||
|5||October 16, 1993||1–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1993–94) ||0–4–1 ||
|6||October 19, 1993||1–4 || style="text-align:left;"| St. Louis Blues (1993–94) ||0–5–1 ||
|7||October 21, 1993||2–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ St. Louis Blues (1993–94) ||0–6–1 ||
|8||October 23, 1993||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Vancouver Canucks (1993–94) ||0–7–1 ||
|9||October 24, 1993||2–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94) ||0–8–1 ||
|10||October 26, 1993||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1993–94) ||1–8–1 ||
|11||October 28, 1993||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||2–8–1 ||
|12||October 30, 1993||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Washington Capitals (1993–94) ||2–9–1 ||
|13||October 31, 1993||2–1 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||3–9–1 ||
|14||November 2, 1993||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94) ||3–9–2 ||
|15||November 5, 1993||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Dallas Stars (1993–94) ||4–9–2 ||
|16||November 7, 1993||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey Devils (1993–94) ||4–10–2 ||
|17||November 9, 1993||2–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94) ||4–10–3 ||
|18||November 11, 1993||0–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Dallas Stars (1993–94) ||4–11–3 ||
|19||November 13, 1993||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New Jersey Devils (1993–94) ||5–11–3 ||
|20||November 14, 1993||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Rangers (1993–94) ||5–11–4 ||
|21||November 16, 1993||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Washington Capitals (1993–94) ||6–11–4 ||
|22||November 18, 1993||1–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Boston Bruins (1993–94) ||6–12–4 ||
|23||November 20, 1993||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Hartford Whalers (1993–94) ||7–12–4 ||
|24||November 21, 1993||5–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94) ||7–13–4 ||
|25||November 23, 1993||6–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Detroit Red Wings (1993–94) ||8–13–4 ||
|26||November 26, 1993||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||9–13–4 ||
|27||November 27, 1993||1–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||10–13–4 ||
|28||December 3, 1993||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Winnipeg Jets (1993–94) ||10–13–5 ||
|29||December 5, 1993||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Florida Panthers (1993–94) ||11–13–5 ||
|30||December 7, 1993||1–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94) ||11–14–5 ||
|31||December 11, 1993||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94) ||11–15–5 ||
|32||December 12, 1993||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94) ||11–16–5 ||
|33||December 15, 1993||1–3 || style="text-align:left;"| St. Louis Blues (1993–94) ||11–17–5 ||
|34||December 17, 1993||2–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94) ||11–18–5 ||
|35||December 19, 1993||5–7 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94) ||11–19–5 ||
|36||December 22, 1993||2–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94) ||11–19–6 ||
|37||December 23, 1993||3–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94) ||11–20–6 ||
|38||December 28, 1993||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Calgary Flames (1993–94) ||11–20–7 ||
|39||December 31, 1993||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94) ||12–20–7 ||
|40||January 2, 1994||4–4 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94) ||12–20–8 ||
|41||January 4, 1994||2–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Montreal Canadiens (1993–94) ||12–20–9 ||
|42||January 6, 1994||3–10 || style="text-align:left;"| Detroit Red Wings (1993–94) ||12–21–9 ||
|43||January 11, 1994||2–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles Kings (1993–94) ||12–21–10 ||
|44||January 12, 1994||5–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||13–21–10 ||
|45||January 15, 1994||8–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Hartford Whalers (1993–94) ||14–21–10 ||
|46||January 17, 1994||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Calgary Flames (1993–94) ||15–21–10 ||
|47||January 25, 1994||3–8 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers (1993–94) ||15–22–10 ||
|48||January 28, 1994||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Florida Panthers (1993–94) ||15–22–11 ||
|49||January 29, 1994||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94) ||16–22–11 ||
|50||February 1, 1994||4–5 || style="text-align:left;"| @ New York Islanders (1993–94) ||16–23–11 ||
|51||February 3, 1994||3–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94) ||17–23–11 ||
|52||February 5, 1994||3–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ St. Louis Blues (1993–94) ||17–24–11 ||
|53||February 6, 1994||7–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Dallas Stars (1993–94) ||18–24–11 ||
|54||February 8, 1994||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94) ||19–24–11 ||
|55||February 11, 1994||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94) ||20–24–11 ||
|56||February 13, 1994||1–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94) ||21–24–11 ||
|57||February 15, 1994||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94) ||21–25–11 ||
|58||February 17, 1994||2–8 || style="text-align:left;"| Quebec Nordiques (1993–94) ||21–26–11 ||
|59||February 19, 1994||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles Kings (1993–94) ||22–26–11 ||
|60||February 21, 1994||3–6 || style="text-align:left;"| Dallas Stars (1993–94) ||22–27–11 ||
|61||February 23, 1994||1–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94) ||22–28–11 ||
|62||February 24, 1994||4–6 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Ottawa Senators (1993–94) ||22–29–11 ||
|63||February 26, 1994||0–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94) ||22–30–11 ||
|64||February 28, 1994||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94) ||22–30–12 ||
|65||March 3, 1994||4–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Edmonton Oilers (1993–94) ||23–30–12 ||
|66||March 6, 1994||6–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94) ||24–30–12 ||
|67||March 8, 1994||4–4 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1993–94) ||24–30–13 ||
|68||March 10, 1994||4–3 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Islanders (1993–94) ||25–30–13 ||
|69||March 12, 1994||0–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Calgary Flames (1993–94) ||25–31–13 ||
|70||March 17, 1994||1–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Ottawa Senators (1993–94) ||25–32–13 ||