5 things to watch in Golden Knights-Sharks series
The Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks had more than a week to prepare for the Western Conference semifinals after each team swept its first-round series.
Too bad neither team needed that much time.
“We know them, they know us,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “They’ve got a lot of experience, and they’ve got a lot of good hockey players. So, we’ll see what happens.”
The Knights went 3-0-1 against San Jose during the regular season, with three games decided by one goal (including two in overtime). This series should be more of the same starting with Game 1 at 7 p.m. Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.
Here are five things to watch:
1. Shake off the rust.
The last time the Knights played, people were still filing their income tax returns. The Sharks have been off since April 18.
Both teams should have plenty of jump for Game 1. But will their passes be on the tape? And how quickly will they regain their timing after a long layoff?
“I’m glad we’re not playing a team that’s just finishing a series up and they’ve got two or three days off,” Gallant said. “We’ve had an extra day more than them, so it’s the same boat.”
2. Puck stops here.
This is the eighth time in NHL history — and second time in the past 22 years — that two teams will meet after both swept their preceding best-of-seven playoff series.
The Knights’ Marc-Andre Fleury became the fifth goalie since the league expanded for the 1967-68 season to win all four games of a playoff series while recording a goals-against average of 0.70 or less in the first round.
Martin Jones led San Jose to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and ranks No. 1 in goals-against average (1.90) among active goalies with at least 20 postseason games.
“We found a way to win and get one more goal (against Anaheim), and that’s going to be the same with Fleury,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “We don’t have a magic answer to break him down. We just have to find a way to get one more goal than they’re getting.”
3. Kill joy.
The Knights faced the league’s best penalty-killing unit in Los Angeles in the first round. They get the No. 2 short-handed team in the semifinals.
“From the little bit I’ve watched San Jose right now, they’re very aggressive,” Gallant said. “L.A. is aggressive, too, but San Jose pushes you hard and they make you make mistakes.”
The Sharks successfully killed penalties at an 84.8 percent clip during the regular season and are eighth in the postseason at 83.3 percent (10-for-12).
The Knights, meanwhile, lead the postseason in penalty killing at 92.3 percent (12-for-13).
“It does become more important as the playoffs go on that you win the special teams battle,” DeBoer said. “I think both teams take a lot of pride in those areas, so it should be a good test.”
4. Fourth dimension.
After playing a major factor in the series against Los Angeles, Gallant was asked whether he had the best fourth line in the NHL. He danced around the question, and part of the reason might be San Jose’s fourth line.
Ironically, the Sharks entered the season with a gaping hole on their fourth line at center that Ryan Carpenter was unable to fill before he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Knights in December.
The addition of veteran Eric Fehr at the trade deadline solidified that spot, and San Jose’s fourth line produced four goals in the first round, including three from Marcus Sorensen.
“I think these guys, they can score some goals,” Gallant said. “Their fourth line obviously played really well last series, and (DeBoer) relies on them a lot. They play, they’ve got some speed, they’ve got some quickness and they scored some big goals for them in the last series.”
5. Fear the beard.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, who played Game 4 against the Ducks after he missed the final 10 minutes of Game 3, practiced this week and is expected to be ready for the series opener.
Anaheim focused on Burns after he dominated in Game 1, and the Sharks forwards feasted on the extra attention given to the 2017 Norris Trophy winner the rest of the series.
Burns led San Jose in scoring during the regular season with 67 points and had five points (two goals, three assists) in four games against the Knights.
“That’s nothing that we haven’t dealt with before. We’ve seen that,” DeBoer said. “Edmonton played him that way last year in the playoffs. I think individually and collectively that’s what teams in the playoffs try and do, is take away the other team’s strengths and expose their weaknesses. We’re trying to do the same thing on our end.”
More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
