That is some serious confidence heading into San Jose against a team that he was 2-0 against in the regular season.
Advertisement
And then, what do you know?
The Predators won just 45.7 percent of their draws against Anaheim, which is only slightly better than the Sharks’ 45.5 percent success rate in its series against Los Angeles.
As the playoffs progress, the opening game in each series will get tighter and tighter due to each team not wanting to allow the opening goal or have that initial swing of momentum fall on the wrong side of the ice. “At least you can leave the ice knowing you left it out there in the end”. The Sharks don’t need to exceed expectations in this series.
Which is just fine with them. Which could be problematic.
“I thought we dominated them, to be honest”, said Cogliano.
The Sharks top line of Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl was effective at even strength throughout the series against the Kings. “Certainly, your special teams matters in a series”. It’s practically the franchise’s psychological profile. He gave up 17 goals in seven games to one of the leagues best offenses, but more importantly he showed up when the Predators needed him most during their two elimination games.
Can the Nashville Predators defense slow down the Sharks forwards? The Isles walked into Tampa on Wednesday and took Game 1 5-3.
“With the way the score was and the way we were pushing, I’d say yes”, Boudreau said. Well, The Preds will be playing a much less dirty team in San José, compared to Anaheim, so there is opportunity for less penalties going around. The feat of eliminating the Kings in five games – and winning three times at Staples Center – is something that should not be glossed over before we get to the next round. They held a 3-0 lead in the third period and made it clear that they were the better team. As the last Pacific Division team left standing, the Sharks should take a bow.
The ability of Rinne to play the puck presents problems for any team trying to establish a forecheck. San Jose becomes the second opponent Nashville meets a third time and – based on that small sampling – the third time is a charm.
This time around, I’m picking the Sharks because (A) they have greater offensive depth and power-play pop than the Predators and (B) they have goalie Martin Jones, who does not have the experience and total skill set of Nashville’s world-class Pekka Rinne but is closer to Rinne’s level than many people think.
“We’d rather fly under the radar, and just kind of do our own business”, captain Shea Weber said. Weber and Jarnkrok both scored for Nashville.
Offensively, the Predators may have a slight edge in terms of forward depth and talent. Filip Forsberg – one goal, two assists. Mike Ribeiro is a troublemaker.
Ironically, the last goal scored in the Ducks/Predators series was by a Preds player with a nickname of Goose. “There always is. It’s tough to see teammates go”. The Sharks must take advantage. “We had a lot more expectation than to go out in the first round”.
This won’t be an easy two weeks of hockey.
Their reward was the chance to go right back to work Friday on their Stanley Cup quest. Now both are gone, upset in the first round.
Here’s a look at how the two teams match up. The path to the Stanley Cup finals is wide open in the West. This is such an opportunity for the Sharks to cast aside any underperforming stigma.
Not sure how you ever exceed that expectation, exactly.
Advertisement
Mind you, it was the play of goaltender Pekka Rinne who played the biggest role in this one with 36 saves, many of them of the spectacular fashion.
