By Morris Phillips
SAN JOSE–On the April 2014 night that the Sharks were supposed to send their old nemesis from La La land packing, a substantial project that was accomplished in 2011, but didn’t get finished in 2013–when the Kings escaped in Game 7 of the conference-semis–they were all over the place, hardly focused enough for the task at hand.
Most obviously, Antti Niemi’s goaltending wasn’t where it needed to be. Even as the Sharks raced to three wins in the first three games of the series, Coach Todd McLellan’s chirping about the goaltending could be heard loud and clear. But he wasn’t all that happy with his team’s penalty killing and physicality either.
Team leaders Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau butted heads with their coach frequently in then his sixth year of seven coaching the team, and they weren’t helping their individual causes by tearing up the Kings. While Thornton and Marleau weren’t no shows, both were on the ice too frequently for too many of the opponent’s goals in that series.
Dan Boyle was well on his way to a contentious, undignified end to his San Jose career. Younger stars Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture were in the midst of breakout years. Who’s team was it that season? With the new wave ascending, and the old guard aging, it was often hard to tell.
In Game 4 at Staples Center, the Sharks committed four of their whopping 10 penalties in the first period. But they survived, tied 1-1. But in the second, a couple more trips to the penalty box ignited the Kings who scored three goals, and then a fourth just 34 seconds into the final period. Down 5-2, McLellan pulled Niemi, and both teams tried to send messages with a couple of well-intentioned fights. The Sharks were still in control, up 3-1, but the Kings were well on their way to getting back into the series.
We all know what transpired next. The Sharks shriveled, got shut out in Game 5, then scored just one goal each in Games 6 and 7. Jonathan Quick took over the series, and the Kings became just the fourth team in league history to brush aside a 3-0 deficit.
“When I look at it, I look at it as they fixed their problems, we didn’t,” McLellan admitted. “Our problems got progressively worse as we went along,”
Only six Sharks remain from Game 4 of that series four years ago. A seventh, Thornton, is injured, didn’t face the Ducks, and isn’t expected back for the start of the series to come with the Vegas Golden Knights. Couture, Pavelski, Thomas Hertl, Justin Braun, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Brent Burns all have that 2014 series in their memory banks, and that seemed to fuel them on Wednesday. Pavelski took the lead, and put the mindset into words.
“The biggest lesson you can learn in the playoffs: the commitment level and what you have to sacrifice. Whether you win or lose, it has to be there on a nightly basis to give yourself the best chance,” Pavelski said.
“We asked them to come into this series and play with composure,” Coach Peter DeBoer said. “We knew what we were going to get, they were going to try to push us out of the series physically. We stood in there and did it without taking penalties and with discipline.”
In winning 2-1 to wrap up the series, and earn at least a week of recuperation and time to prepare for the Knights, the Sharks showed how they’re in a much better place.
Martin Jones, ironically the backup goaltender for the Kings four years ago, is standing on his ear. Not only did he rack up the saves versus Anaheim, he came up with the biggest when the momentum could have shifted. On Wednesday, he came up big at the end of the second period, and then again, early in the third. Jones had 30 saves in all.
The Ducks managed just four goals in the series, further illustrating Jones’ dominance.
Hertl came up with the game-winning goal–on an assist from Vlasic–less than 90 seconds after the Ducks broke through to tie it. The goal helped illustrate how the Sharks are getting contributions from four lines, which DeBoer highlighted after the game.
Evander Kane is playing his part as the high-profile, late season acquisition. Pavelski and Couture are the leaders on and off the ice, and DeBoer isn’t a wearing voice.
In fact, he’s an occasionally funny voice.
“I know we’re going to be heavy, heavy underdogs (against the Pacific Division champion Knights). So hopefully, you guys will write that , and we’ll go from there,” he said.
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