San Jose Sharks Round One Grades

The Sharks closed out their series with the Kings on Friday night, and as we await who team teal will play next, let’s take a more detailed look at how the team performed against L.A.

Forwards

Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski: A

It’s tough to neutralize a Los Angeles Kings line led by Anze Kopitar, but these three did the best you could ask, combining for 11 points and a plus-eight rating. Pavelski had six points in the series, and Thornton continued dishing the puck at a high rate, notching three assists. Additionally, Pavelski and Thornton were two of the lone bright spots in the face-off circle, each winning over 50 percent of their draws. This line produced at least a point in every game of the series, and is the main reason the Sharks are where they are. Hertl’s plus-four rating was the best of all forwards.

Joonas Donskoi – Logan Couture – Joel Ward: B+

Couture may very well be the unsung hero of this team, which went from a .500 team during Couture’s absence in the regular season to a Cup contending team when he was in the lineup. He tallied a trio of assists in Game Five, and notched a point in four of five games.

Meanwhile, Ward bounced back from a tough finish to the regular season, adding four assists in the series – really making GM Doug Wilson look like a genius for the acquisition of Ward in the summer. For Donskoi, it took awhile, but the young Finn made a huge impact in the series finale, scoring two goals in more than 16 minutes of ice time. This line was a huge reason the Sharks held on for a victory in Game Five. Couture did do a poor job winning face-offs, though, including losing 9 of 11 draws in Game Two.

Melker Karlsson – Patrick Marleau – Matt Nieto: C+

Point-wise, Marleau had an impressive series at 36 years-old, tallying four points, but he was atrocious in the face-off circle, winning just 38 percent of draws. Nieto ended a 19-game streak without a goal in Game Five, getting one past Jonathan Quick to extend the lead to 3-0, and Karlsson scored the final goal of the series on an empty-netter, but other than that, those two were held point-less in the series.

This line did do a good job staying out of the penalty box, though, earning just six minutes in the sin-bin. They also did a pretty good job defensively on the back-check, which is what expected of this group, especially of Karlsson.

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Nick Spaling – Chris Tierney – Tommy Wingels: D+

It was a very interesting and up-and-down series for this bunch, especially Tierney and Spaling. Spaling looked completely out-of-sorts in Games Two and Three, totaling three very avoidable minor penalties, not registering one shot in either game with a minus-one rating in Game Three.

The rookie Tierney also struggled a bit, taking a penalty in Game Two and Game Three. However, he did score a big goal in Game Five to increase the Sharks lead to 2-0 and had a few other good scoring chances as well. Wingels was the most consistent of the bunch, which hopefully will improve as a whole next round. Nobody is asking fourth-liners to rack up points, but they must stay out of the penalty box for silly penalties, especially in the offensive zone.

Defensemen

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun: B

Vlasic may not get the recognition that Brent Burns does because he’s not much of an offensive-defenseman, but he blocked five shots in Game Four and Game Five, and finished the series with a plus-two rating. His return from injury was just in time for the playoffs and gives the Sharks a second All-Star level D-man. Braun is not known for his offense, as shown by his two shots-on-goal all series, but he finished with a positive rating of plus-one, assisted on a goal in the first game of the series and averaged more than 20 minutes of ice-time, as he did in the regular season.

Paul Martin – Brent Burns: A

Both of these blue-liners were at peak performance seemingly every game. Burns’ eight points still leads all NHL defensemen in the playoffs despite the Sharks ending the series early, as he stands at two goals and six assists. Martin, while never a huge scoring threat, made his mark more so on the defensive end. The wily veteran was a big contributor in Game Two, blocking four shots and totaling five hits, and he blocked an astounding eight shots in Game Three. He would also add an assist in the series finale and finish with tied for the team-lead with a plus-four rating.

Brenden Dillon – Roman Polak: B

Predictably, these two led all Sharks defensemen in hits, and really laid the boom on the Kings in Game Four, where Dillon finished with five hits and Polak seven, though neither scored a point. The Sharks are lucky to have two veterans who still have been in the playoffs before as their third pair – some playoff teams aren’t so lucky.

Next: Brent Burns Outplayed Drew Doughty in Round One

Goaltending (Martin Jones): B

Jones had a solid showing in his playoff debut as a starting net-minder. He wasn’t necessarily exceptional, but he responded well to a subpar series opener where he allowed three goals on 24 shots. Although he finished the series with a mediocre .912 save percentage, he earned a 2.18 GAA, and most shots that got past him were very difficult saves. Most importantly, the first-year Shark gave team teal a chance to win every game. The Sharks ditching Antti Niemi and making the big-time deal with the Boston Bruins to nab Jones last summer is looking like a great one by Wilson.