from Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News,

No one on the Sharks’ coaching staff has come out and explicitly said that James Reimer is the team’s No. 1 goalie.

Instead, Reimer’s statistics have done all the talking.

Reimer, in his third start in the last four games, stopped 26 of 28 shots Saturday in the Sharks’ 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils. He was in net for all five points the Sharks earned on their five-game homestand, helping San Jose keep its season on the rails with multiple players still stuck in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

The Sharks have gone 2-1-1 since coach Bob Boughner and several players — including defensemen Erik Karlsson, Jake Middleton, Radim Simek, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic — landed on the league COVID protocol list. Others out right now include forwards Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, and Matt Nieto.

The Sharks (6-4-1) have received several noteworthy performances in that time, with Reimer at or near the top of the list.

After Saturday’s game, Reimer had a .946 save percentage, second-best among 39 NHL goalies who had played in at least five games. His 1.60 goals-against average was tops among all goalies in that category.

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