San Jose Sharks Vault Up To Second Place In Pacific
While the San Jose Sharks saw their five-game winning streak snapped with a shootout defeat against the Ottawa Senators last night, San Jose still has a six-game point streak in tact and that streak has allowed the Sharks to vault back into contention in the tightly congested Pacific Division.
As it stands right now, San Jose is tied for second place in the division with the Arizona Coyotes as both teams sit on 49 points, although the Sharks have played one fewer game than the Coyotes.
[table id=71 /]
Both teams are still in pursuit of the Los Angeles Kings who have built a 10-point lead in their perch atop the Pacific. Last week, the Kings locked up star center man Anze Kopitar to an eight-year, $80 million contract, and Kopitar immediately repaid the organization.
Kopitar scored the game-winning goal against the rival Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night, and he has three goals and five assists in his last five games. He now leads the Los Angeles offense with 38 points (13 goals and 25 assists) and leads all forwards with 21:10 of ice time per game. Not a bad way to show you’re worth the money.
More from Sharks News
- Norris Trophy odds show Erik Karlsson a step above the rest
- Red hot Couture provides a much needed boost
- Sharks return to SAP in sight
- Ryan Donato shines in his revenge game
- Tomas Hertl is off to a hot start
Despite all the John Scott nonsense surrounding Arizona, the Coyotes have been able to hang tough when many thought they’d be bottom-feeders once again. Their offense has been infused by a plethora of young talent, but the play of Louis Domingue in place of the injured Mike Smith has been a big surprise. In 13 games, Domingue has registered a 7-3-3 record with a 2.19 goals-against-average and a .928 save percentage.
The Vancouver Canucks continue their weekly ways of just hanging in there within the division. The Canucks have won three of their last four games with all of them coming in overtime or a shootout. It should come as no surprise that the Sedin twins are leading the way for Vancouver with a combined 28 goals, 50 assists, 78 points and a plus-23 rating, although Henrik Sedin will be out until at least the All-Star Break so it will be interesting to see if they can stay afloat.
Meanwhile, the Ducks continue their up-and-down season, winning two straight before dropping a pivotal matchup against the Kings at home. Anaheim has the league’s best penalty kill, the eighth-ranked defense, 11th-best power play, but they are dead last by a wide margin in goals per game which is why they find themselves in the predicament they’re in. If they can somehow find a way to score some goals, the Ducks should be able to challenge right to the end in the playoff race.
Bringing up the rear, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are tied at the basement of the division. The Flames are similar to the Ducks in that once they find a glimmer of hope, they’ll lose their next two or three games.
With Edmonton, the young Oilers have made improvements, but they aren’t showing up in the results on the ice. It will only become tougher for Edmonton moving forward as former first-round pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be out indefinitely with a hand injury.
Next: Sharks Doomed By Costly Errors In Shootout Loss
San Jose is back at it on Thursday night for their final road game in January as they travel to the desert for a pivotal division matchup against Arizona as both teams look to secure sole possession of second place in the division.