Pros and Cons From the San Jose Sharks Game 7 Statement Victory

Staring down another daunting Game 7 the San Jose Sharks didn’t blink. They defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3 – 2 capping off Round 2 with a bang.

They say that it’s a marathon and not a sprint, and the San Jose Sharks are exhibiting that analogy to a tee during this years Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Team Teal has put together an extremely impressive and stressful Stanley Cup Playoff run. They’ve needed every possible game and goal in both of their first two series to reach the Western Conference Finals. Tonight was no different with the Colorado Avalanche taking this to the brink of regulation, nearly forcing overtime with a few close calls in the final moments of the game.

There was a lot to love about tonight’s performance but there was also a few things that could be concerning in regards to Team Teal’s future success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here’s what stuck out in Game 7 of Round 2 versus the Colorado Avalanche.

Pros

The Captain Leads His Troops ~ The return of the Captain Joe Pavelski sparked the San Jose Sharks early in Game 7. He marched them to victory recording 2 points in his triumphant return to the Tank. The crowd went absolutely wild all game long for Pavelski and the team fed off of the energy, jumping on the Avalanche with a 2 – 0 lead in the  first frame.

Pavelski started the night right with a vintage goal off a Burns bomb from the point.

The crowd erupted and never really settled down until the final horn sounded. It was a heartwarming moment and something Sharks fans will never forget. San Jose is hoping to carry this momentum into Round 3 against the St. Louis Blues and potentially further into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“Playoff Martin Jones” ~ After a rough start to the 2018 – 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Martin Jones has stabilized his play in net. Jones got pulled twice during the first 4 games of Round 1, recording a 0.838 save percentage during that stretch of time. Since that rough patch, Jones has completely turned things around. In those 10 games since being pulled in Game 4 of Round 1, he’s put up a stellar 0.928 SV%, per naturalstattrick. His timely saves and calming presence have kept the Sharks alive in this series, and tonight was no different.

The Colorado Avalanche put it all on the ice in the final minutes of Game 7. They threw everything they could at the 29-year-old netminder but Jones stood tall when it mattered most.

Martin Jones ended the night with 27 saves on 29 shots. With his game rounding into form and the Captain returning this team finally seems complete. This is perfect timing for the San Jose Sharks with them being only 8 wins away from their first Stanley Cup in team history.

Tomas Put the Hertl on the Avalanche ~ I’m sorry… Anyway the 25-year-old continues to shine during this years Stanley Cup Playoffs. He registered 2 more points tonight putting his playoff total at 14 points, with 9 of them being goals.

Hertl continues to generate offense on a nightly basis, he leads the entire Playoffs with 42 high danger scoring opportunities, per naturalstattrick. This stat exhibits how effective the Czech forward is off the rush and in near the crease.  His ability to get into the dangerous areas of the ice is unmatched among the other skaters on the Sharks roster. Team Teal will be relying on Hertl to push them past the St. Louis Blues and into the Stanley Cup Finals.

Con

Sharks, I Need More Power ~ The San Jose Sharks went 0 – 3 on the power play tonight, making them 2/19 during this series. It’s hard to think of any negatives to take away from another wild Game 7 victory so we won’t dwell on this too much. But it is something of concern for the Sharks who are up for a tougher match-up against the St. Louis Blues.

There were probably a few reasons why Team Teal struggled so much with the man advantage. First off they were missing their most effective power play forward for most of this series and haven’t had a day off to focus on practicing their cohesion on the power play in a while. So hopefully the Sharks can center themselves with this time off before heading into Game 1 on May 11th.

The San Jose Sharks are heading into Round 3 with destiny on their side. However they’ll be in for a tough task matching up against the St. Louis Blues. They have a much deeper roster than the Avalanche, and have a what appears to be a cyborg in net. This series should have a slower pace to it compared to the previous 2, but will no doubt be just as intense.