Sharks have had troubles before the playoffs before, limping into the playoffs on loosing streaks, or on the flip side, riding high on franchise record breaking point streaks. They haven’t had to fight for the chance to play in the playoffs in quite some time, playing to clinch the division or home ice is much different then trying to win enough games to have a chance to make the post season. The playoffs started for this team a solid month ago, every game, every point mattered. Each game was under such a microscope that just winning wasn’t good enough; it had to be in regulation because of the ROW (Regulation/overtime win total) numbers, which were never in the Sharks’ favor.
San Jose has shown in the past the team lacked passion, grit, and depth. Now, we – fans, media – can’t expect this team to be any different till they show it in this post season tournament, but looking at the last 10 games (7-3-0) of the regular season might give some type of representation of what this team is capable of accomplishing. There was little room for the Sharks to blunder down the stretch, so winning at a 70% clip is impressive, especially, because the majority were against teams desperate for points in the playoff race. Game 82, prime example of where this team is heading into tonight’s game 1. Down 2-0, already in the playoffs, no chance for division, the Sharks could have folded but they fought hard and got that one extra point with the 3-2 victory, ending the season on a 4-game winning streak.
So the grind to end the season might be a positive for Team Teal heading into the playoffs, but it’s not ideal. The roster/lineup the Sharks put on the ice every night should not have taken 80 games to clinch a playoff berth but it did, mainly, because they lacked consistency to their game and the penalty kill was pretty awful the vast majority of the time. Lets face it, at times, San Jose played like they didn’t care, forgetting how efficient, high caliber hockey was executed. 2012 was the season of streaks for the Sharks, going 13–6 from the start till Thanksgiving, then later having a 2-7 road trip, and closing the season out strong, with everything else in-between. The penalty kill is playing terrible going into game 1 tonight in St. Louis, giving up 6 PPG in the last 2 games vs the Kings. No doubt, any time a team gets on the Power Play, they think they are scoring, not if they are going scoring…which brings us to Round 1 match up against the Blues.
The match-up is simple – youth vs. experience, defense vs. offense. The Sharks are a team that has been through the playoffs year after year, while many of the Blues players will be getting their feet wet for the first or second time. Captain Joe Thornton has never missed the playoffs as a San Jose Shark…yes, that obvious but think about that 8 straight seasons this team has been playing this time of the year…they knows playoff pressure. However, this means little to the Sharks since they always fail to capture the Stanley Cup. The Blues are playing with house money; they know no better – young, fast, with a good mix of veteran leadership. St. Louis gives up the least amount of goals per game (1.89); their defense is tops in the NHL…Its #2 Power play (SJ) vs #7 Penalty kill (STL). Pretty simple, if the Sharks score 3 goals per game they should be able to win the series, but that is a mighty challenge against a team that prides itself on defense first.
It’s a new season, every thing is on the line for the Sharks: pride, respect, and reputation. In essence they will start their second playoff season this year, which is the key for their quest to finally hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.
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