San Jose Sharks ready to eliminate Los Angeles Kings, game 6 – NHL Playoffs preview
San Jose Sharks seem to have become sick and tired of playing against Los Angeles Kings in a back and forth Western Conference quarter-final series.
Both teams have not had much advantage of playing at home but San Jose know that they can eliminate the Kings come game six on Monday at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California.
Having a healthy roster has still not paid off for the Sharks against the weary Kings who are playing without their top player Anze Kopitar but have still kept them at bay.
“We had the one opportunity that we missed,” San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle said Sunday. “We can't really think about Game 7. We've got to finish these guys off and just play our game.”
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings won game five on a high note on Saturday 3-1. Jonathan Quick made one of the best performances by any goalie in the National Hockey League throughout the regulation season and playoffs.
He deflected a blistering 51 shots to make a new franchise record for the most shots blocked and only let one through. During game five, the Sharks outshot the Kings 52-22, but it was the quality that counted.
Strategically speaking, taking an early lead has always given good output for the Kings and it should be their technique going into game six. Kyle Clifford remains consistent, scoring his third on Saturday. He will be a key factor in helping them gain an
early lead.
Other than Quick defending them on their end, the offence will have to pick up the pace if they want to get anywhere near the semi-finals. Quick is a thriving force for them but he cannot do it all by himself. Since Anze Kopitar went out nearing the end
of the regulation season, Kings Coach Terry Murray certainly believes that he is the reason for their existence in the postseason.
San Jose Sharks
Luckily for the Sharks, there backup goalie Antero Niittymaki was able to take control of the situation when Antti Niemi allowed three goals in the first nine minutes of the match, but that cannot be the case every time.
“If we were expecting another miracle, it won't happen,” San Jose Coach Todd McLellan said following the game. “We've used our mulligan up. It's not going to happen again.”
Even their offensive side is not always consistent. Sometimes they score multiple goals to comeback from a deficit and sometimes it is an overtime game-winner. Being the second seed, it does not suit them to be playing in this manner and should have eliminated
the offence-less Kings long time ago.
San Jose are full of top class performers including Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Ryan Clowe and Danny Heatley which all combined together should be able to throw the Kings out easily. Even though they took over 50 shots in
the previous match, they still lost. Focusing on executing well thought out plays instead of just shooting the puck all around the place would be much more helpful for them if they want to stay alive in the playoffs.
Underestimating the Kings would be the biggest mistake they could make in game six, since LA will try their best to save themselves from elimination along with attempting to take the series into game seven. If LA can manage a 3-3 quarterfinals tie-up, then
game seven could prove to be much easy for them in terms of playoff pressure.
Game six between the two California state rivals will take place on Monday at 10:00 PM ET.
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