San Jose Sharks: Top 5 Most Difficult Road Trips
Mar 26, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; San Jose Sharks teammates celebrate after winning the game 6-4 against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
With the recent news that the San Jose Sharks would be logging the most miles in the NHL in 2015-16 with 50,362, let’s break down the top five toughest road trips of their upcoming season.
5. February 16-24 (Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche)
San Jose will travel to the East Coast one final time during the 2015-16 season by starting against the defending Eastern Conference champion Lightning. From there, the Sharks will continue up the coast for one of their 14 back-to-backs as they face the Panthers and Hurricanes.
San Jose begins the trek West with a stop against the Blues, who embarrassed the Sharks by 7-2 scores on two occasions last season. Finally, San Jose wraps up their final extended road trip of the year against Colorado as the playoff push will be in full swing.
The most difficult part about this trip is it comes late in the season, and the eight-day journey East could fatigue the Sharks down the home stretch, especially with their concluding game in the altitude against the Avalanche.
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4. October 13-19 (Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers)
The Sharks first journey to the East Coast, resembles the same trip they took a season ago where they also opened against the Capitals.
San Jose then makes the swing through New York and New Jersey with their first back-to-back game coming as Peter DeBoer returns to face the Devils, before the Sharks take on the Islanders for their first look at the Barclays Center.
San Jose wraps up the four-game, six-night trip by taking on the Rangers, who blanked the Sharks 4-0 the last night they visited Madison Square Garden.
The early season journey should allow ample time for the Sharks to get to know one another, but it won’t be easy as San Jose faces the top three teams in the Metropolitan Division from a season ago.
3. November 13-22 (Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets)
San Jose’s longest road trip of the season starts off with a back-to-back as they take on long-time foe in Detroit, before heading to Buffalo where the Sharks have been flat out awful. San Jose has dropped their last eight games against the Sabres and has just one win in 17 tries in Buffalo.
The Sharks get a three-day break before taking on the remade Bruins, where Martin Jones will likely take on the organization that traded him to San Jose. Then, the Sharks make a swing through Pennslyvania, before concluding their road trip in Columbus, where they’ve also struggled in recent years.
While the opponents aren’t the toughest on this swing, the difficulty lies in their distance traveled along with two sets of back-to-backs at the beginning and end of the road trip.
2. December 15-22 (Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings)
The Sharks last big road trip of the first half sees them swing through Canada, beginning with a bout against the Atlantic Division winners in Montreal. San Jose then heads to the hockey capital to take on the Maple Leafs, before journeying to Ottawa the next night against the Senators.
San Jose returns to the United States to square off against the defending Stanley Cup champions in Chicago. The Sharks wrap up their trek by taking on the rival Kings for their final matchup in Los Angeles.
The difficult part of this seven-day trip is the opening swing through Canada and then squaring off against two of the best teams in the Western Conference. The Sharks will have logged plenty of miles in the first part of the year, and this trip will take them into the Christmas break so there will be plenty of distractions.
1. February 2-9 (Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks)
San Jose’s most difficult road trip will occur at the start of February as the Sharks will embark on a week-long journey, against four playoff teams from a season ago.
It all begins with a trip down the coast to face the Ducks for the final time. San Jose fared well against Anaheim, posting a 4-0-1 record last season.
Then, the Sharks will make a difficult three-game swing through Central Division opposition. The Blues, Predators and Blackhawks ranked one, two and three in the Central last season, and San Jose posted a combined 4-5-0 record against these three a season ago.
Remember, it was at the beginning of February when the Sharks began their slide and it won’t be easy facing these four foes who all have Stanley Cup aspirations.