NHL play-off preview – San Jose Sharks v Colorado Avalanche
There is no doubting the offensive talent the No.1 seeded San Jose Sharks possess. But talent alone will not help them win the Stanley Cup, they will need to show some fighting spirit.
The wealth of goal-scoring talent the Sharks have on paper is scary. Centre Patrick Marleau led the team in goal scoring with 44, other centre Joe Thornton led the team in points scored with 89 and winger Danny Heatley chipped in with a not too shabby 82 points in his first season with the west-coast team.
So offense isn’t going to be the Sharks’ problem unless the front line chokes on an epic scale. Defence is going to be where the Sharks struggle and just looking at their regular season stats if the offence has a bad night, a loss is more than likely on the cards.
Although San Jose finished first in points in the west they only finished with the third best goal difference (+49) and fourth overall when the east is included. And even though they have a wealth of offensive talent they were outscored by the Chicago Blackhawks (271 goals) and the Vancouver Canucks (272 goals).
Conceding 215 goals isn’t exactly terrible, in fact it is below the average of the 217 goals against of the eight play-off teams, but in recent years it has been conceding goals which has cost the Sharks a legitimate run at the Stanley Cup.
Partly to blame was their goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who in the last three years has posted save percentages of .914, .910 and again .910 last season. This year however, Nabokov has managed to put together his best season playing in 71 games and posting a .922 save percentage, good enough for sixth best in the league.
But against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round you wouldn’t expect Nabokov to be your key player, although as with any keeper he will play an important part.
The Avalanche have exceeded all expectations this season, especially considering they were pencilled in to be one of the three worst teams in the NHL this season by the experts. The Avs started the season with a roster full of inexperienced youngsters and that weren’t expected to be in this position and that could be their downfall against the Sharks.
The Avs struggled down the stretch, winning just three of their last 13 games and considering that the Sharks are in the top 10 of goals scored, goals allowed, power-play, efficiency and penalty killing, it doesn’t look good for Colorado.
It would be a complete shock if the Sharks were to lose this series, simply because of the talent and experience they possess but we’ve said that before and look what happened. If Nabokov can overcome his play-off demons and improve on his 32-31 lifetime post-season record the Sharks should win quite comfortably.
Prediction: Sharks in five.
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