from Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News,

The Sharks' elimination from playoff contention became official just minutes after they began their last home game of the season Monday night.

Unofficially, it happened well before then.

Roughly two hours before the final seconds ticked off in a 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Sharks were eliminated from the playoff picture when the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild to move into the second wild-card spot. Nine teams in the Western Conference now have at least 93 points.

With that, the Sharks, stuck on 87 points, find themselves out of the postseason for the first time since 2003, ending the second-longest active postseason streak in the NHL.

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