San Jose Sharks: Week ahead includes dates with Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks
Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Fans of the San Jose Sharks can take a deep breath and relax for a few reasons, but the upcoming schedule this week isn’t one of them. While the squad appears to have shaken off November’s rust and finally (finally) have Brent Burns back in the lineup, the next three contests will prove to be quite challenging.
After a light week that saw the Sharks pound the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 and down the New Jersey Devils by a 2-1 final, San Jose will have its works cut out with their much heavier week nine schedule. They’ll take on the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday before heading into a vicious back-to-back series against the St. Louis Blues (Friday) and Anaheim Ducks (Saturday).
The 15-3-5 Sharks have two “four point” game against Pacific Division opponents this week, so they could either reclaim the top spot from the Ducks or sink back a spot or two depending on how they contests shake out. One positive for the Sharks is that all three games will take place on home ice.
Here are some early thoughts on the upcoming games and what San Jose should be looking to do against each opponent.
Wednesday, November 27: Los Angeles Kings
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A familiar foe with some unfamiliar faces. Barring some sort of miracle, the Sharks won’t be facing down Jonathan Quick on Wednesday night. Whether or not that’s a good thing depends on whether or not Ben Scrivens is still bent on doing his Quick impression against San Jose.
Since the typical backup took over for Quick, he’s been superb. Dating back to November 15, Scrivens has allowed just five goals across five games played. Here’s the rub for L.A. right now though: while their goaltending is excellent like always, secondary scoring has dried up almost entirely.
It’s clear that his team is missing Jeff Carter, and while youngsters like Linden Vey are trying to provide some offense, they’re still AHL forwards in Kings sweaters. If the Sharks can get L.A. to play a track meet-like contest, they’ll have a good chance of winning here. Of course, they’ll need to get a few behind Scrivens, but San Jose has the horses for that.
Friday, November 29: St. Louis Blues
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Don’t let the 4 pm ET start time fool you. This matinee has “playoff atmosphere” written all over it. Odds are good that the road to the Stanley Cup Final will lead through either St. Louis or San Jose, and these two squads could very well end up meeting in the second or third round of the playoffs.
That fact won’t be lost on either team has they prepare for this game. St. Louis will be coming off of games against the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild and will have a night off before heading to San Jose. So both squads will be rested and will have their respective No. 1 goalies in net (presumably).
The Blues are one of the two hottest teams in hockey over their last 10 games and they have been thrashing some pretty good groups along the way. While the Dallas Stars might not be a Stanley Cup contender, they’re a solid team and the Blues steamrolled them 6-1. This is a mean and versatile team that will be an outstanding test for the Sharks.
Win this one and it’ll get the attention of the rest of the league. The Blues have been a locomotive lately, and San Jose has what it takes to stop it.
Saturday, November 30: Anaheim Ducks
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Yeah. The schedule makers didn’t do the Sharks any favors by scheduling them a back-to-back against two of the most bruising and physical teams in the league. At the time of writing (Monday night) the Anaheim Ducks are fighting off the flu bug and are suffering through an injury bug to boot.
For what it’s worth, Anaheim won’t be coming in any fresher than San Jose. They have a contest at 4 pm ET against the Calgary Flames on Friday before catching a flight to San Jose to take on the Sharks the next night.
Where the game against the Blues could be a fire fight, Saturday night’s contest has all the makings of a 2-1 grind fest.
All in all, this should be a challenging and fun week for the Sharks. One thing is for certain: we’ll know a lot more about the mental and physical aptitude of this team by this time next week.