San Jose Sharks Weekly Roundup
San Jose continued to be the best road team in the NHL after taking the first two games in L.A. against the Kings.
After a year hiatus from postseason hockey, the San Jose Sharks have made their presence felt in the first week of action of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Many pundits were interested in seeing how San Jose would respond after being matched up against the Los Angeles Kings in round one, the same Kings franchise which came back from a 3-0 series deficit to eliminate the Sharks in 2014.
However, through the first two games of this series, it’s been team teal who have found all the answers as San Jose has jumped out to a 2-0 series lead after taking both games at Staples Center.
Get caught up on all the latest Sharks news and notes regarding the playoffs in the latest installment of the weekly roundup:
– It was quite a return to postseason hockey for San Jose in what was a great hockey between two teams that don’t like each other. After a see-saw affair through the first 40 minutes, Joe Pavelski broke open a 3-3 deadlock just 17 seconds into the third as the Sharks took Game One by a 4-3 final.
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– Doug Wilson made plenty of offseason changes in an effort to help strengthen the overall depth of this San Jose team. In Game One against L.A., those newcomers put forth a solid performance as they proved to be a key difference in the outcome.
– Speaking of Wilson, he deserves credit for helping orchestrate the turnaround for the Sharks this season as he made all the right moves in turning San Jose into a true Cup contender.
– The Kings are a physical, bruising style of hockey team that likes to impose their will on the opposition. Meanwhile, the Sharks are a team that relies more upon their speed to get in and cause havoc on the forecheck. San Jose was able to effectively utilize their strengths in creating problems for the L.A. forwards and defense.
– After a back-and-forth first game, things were much tighter in Game Two. The Sharks got off to a much better start as Pavelski opened the scoring less than four minutes into the contest, and Logan Couture would double their advantage on a 5-on-3 in the second. From there, it was Martin Jones who held strong as San Jose took home a 2-1 victory.
– Finally, it took all the way until the final game of the regular season but the San Jose Barracuda clinched the final postseason spot in the Western Conference after blanking the Stockton Heat by a 6-0 margin on Sunday night. The Barracuda will now square off against the Ontario Reign, the top affiliate of the Kings, when the playoffs kick off on April 22nd.
Next: Martin Jones Leads Sharks To 2-0 Series Lead
The Sharks and Kings return to the ice tonight in a pivotal Game Three matchup as San Jose looks to take a commanding 3-0 series lead over L.A. once again as things shift back to the Shark Tank.
San Jose wants to continue to frustrate the Kings and hopefully they can translate their game on to home ice where they’ve struggled for so much of the season.