There's always a key moment during every season deemed as a team's turning point.
It can be a long winning streak, a period in which adversity was overcome or a player or two simply carried the team on his back for a stretch.
When this 2017-18 regular season concludes, the Sharks may very well look back at the success they enjoyed during a taxing stretch that concluded with Sunday's convincing victory at Anaheim.
San Jose came off its five-day bye recently to face a daunting schedule that included playing six games in nine nights, four on the road with two sets of back-to-backs. The local start times were all over the place, too: 7:30 p.m., then a 1 p.m. holiday start followed by a pair at 6 p.m., then 5 p.m. and - 25 hours later including air and bus travel - 6 p.m. to wind it up.
Four were match-ups against division rivals, another against the hottest team in the West and the one Eastern Conference opponent just happened to be the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
Toss on top of that starting goalie Martin Jones got injured late during the compacted schedule, offensive force Joonas Donskoi got ill and the already challenging stretch just got tougher.
Through it all, the Sharks managed to win five of the six games, and they made a run at earning at least a point in the one they lost, too.
Inside the Cage: Turning Point
The success of the Sharks after a heavy slate of games could serve as the turning point of the season