The San Jose Sharks have thus far dispatched the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues in the playoffs. These guys (fans) have been waiting 25 years for this and some of us have been waiting a long time too. They’ve had a lot of high hopes and a lot of people have stuck with this franchise and supported it over the years. DeBoer took the New Jersey Devils to the finals in 2012 in his first season with the club as well. Thornton’s assist was his 100th career playoff point with the Sharks.
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But this seemed to be the biggest hump, the one that the Sharks climbed over Wednesday.
Those recounting the tale tend to hit on the same bullet points: Thornton, who had just signed a contract with the Bruins months earlier, was blindsided by the trade, which involved two last-place teams. He was confident that San Jose would prevail if they executed.
Ward’s second goal, his fourth in the last two games, came off an assist from Couture 3:01 into the third period and all but sealed the win. Just when it looked as if the Cavaliers were vulnerable after two straight losses, they blew out the Raptors, 116-78, in Game 5 and are now one win from the NBA Finals.
“Taking nothing away from San Jose”.
While San Jose’s scorers make headlines for their offense, their contributions defensively are key to the team’s success. Marc-Andre Fleury has allowed four goals on 32 shots faced and Matt Murray has given up 33 goals on 437 shots.
But in what can only fairly be called his best offseason ever, he replaced McLellan with Peter DeBoer, who said most of the things McLellan had been saying but with a different voice and tone and with none of the burdensome history and preconceptions. They dealt with injuries to some of their most important players throughout the course of the year: David Backes, Alexander Steen and Jake Allen. “But when we play our game the way that we can play it, for the full game, it gives anybody fits”. Their forwards really worked and put a lot of pressure us on from the backside, constant pressure, and had the energy to play that way.
A strong backcheck is proof of a team that buys in to the concept of a team effort and a team win.
If the Pens win, the series will begin in Pittsburgh. San Jose had lost in their three prior trips to this point including twice in the Thornton, Patrick Marleau era.
Ward scored his second goal of the game and sixth of the playoff series at 3:01 of the third period by deflecting a Logan Couture feed past Blues goalie Brian Elliott.
But then there are some young players to provide fresh attitudes and bodies.
“It is awesome”, said forward Joe Thornton, who has won gold at the Olympics, World Cup and World Junior Championships but doesn’t have a Stanley Cup ring. That mix makes this team as well-rounded as possible.
Obviously, both the Bocelli concert and the Sharks game can’t happen on the same night. He finished game six with a +9 corsi differential at all strengths, despite St. Louis putting on a late, score-effects filled push.
The Sharks scored the only goal of a first period. Tarasenko scored again at 16:25. After the game, Backes shared a story about Steve Ott he was hurt in Game 4 and his status for Game 5 was in question.
The Cup final will open Monday against Pittsburgh or Tampa Bay at a site to be determined Thursday night when the Penguins host the Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Then there was the Conference Finals. What are we going to do after the game? They are 40-18-4 since losing successive home games to Winnipeg and Detroit on January 2 and 7, a 111-point pace over a full season. Why couldn’t this team find a killer instinct? The Sharks are full of players who have faced adversity and are willing to sacrifice whatever necessary to win.
The Sharks’ top line of Joe Pavelksi, Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl was dominant.
“I think they saw it in Game 4”, Brouwer said. Now the pair are a big reason why the Sharks are in the finals. Thornton is next on the list with 150 games, followed by Curtis Joseph with 133.
Among the teams that made it out of the first round, the Sharks have the most successful power play.
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The extra motivation helps both the individual and the entire team, especially when the outside noise around this team grows in the Cup Finals. The 2015-2016 San Jose Sharks really are a unique story, but they are showing us all why the National Hockey League playoffs are all about who gets hot and who’s defense steps up at the right time.
