DOH 386 – Sharks Sweep Ducks
April 25th, 2018, 9:51 pm
In very satisfying fashion, the Sharks sweep the Ducks, and will face Vegas in the second round.
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Love the dudes. Glad you recorded before the second round. In this era of how much worse can things get, it’s inevitable the cup final will be the worst matchup possible: Pens v Knights, with the Knights winning.
I didn’t believe it could happen before the playoffs, but there’s a strong chance the Golden Knights will win the cup. As the Dudes said, the Jets-Preds could beat one another up in a long series. The Knights can beat the Sharks in 4 or 5 games, stay rested and healthy, then use their speed and Fleury’s unreal goaltending to take the WCF. I could even see a Knights-Pens final wherein Fleury gets revenge on his old team.
Updated after game 4: The Sharks have made me eat crow, and I am loving it. The Sharks have exposed Vegas’ weakness: playing in their own end! The Sharks look dangerous every time there’s an offensive zone face-off or get the cycle going. That’s where the goals are coming from, rather than on the rush like the Ducks series.
Ryan is a better fit for this series. Once Kane and Donskoi were back on the top line, with Pavs back at center, we saw what the Sharks can do. I loved the lineup tonight. Now, can the Sharks win Game 5 in the hostile environment of Vegas? It will come down to special teams and goaltenders. Tonight, the Sharks won both of those battles, which gave them a solid victory.
Updated after game 6: what a disappointment. Nevertheless, if we could have somehow swapped goaltenders, the Sharks would have won the series. Fleury was outstanding. Jones was below average. Finished the series with under .900 save percentage, including several very bad soft goals. I can’t remember Fleury giving up a single one. But overall, Jones got little help in games 1 and 6. It’s now highly plausible the Knights will win a cup, which is ridiculous.
I too drank the Kool Aid after SJ whooped the Ducks. Seeing them play Vegas, we can now see they’re just not that great of a team. Impressed they made it to the second rounnd. Can hold their heads high knowing no one expected them to get this far. I really, really hope the Knights lose in the WCF. Their pregame show is a crime against humanity.
Game 1: 16:40 and forward in this episode sums it up..
Game 2: Sharks is the first team in history to beat the golden knights in the playoffs
Mike, please get your facts straight. During the regular season, SJS v VGK were close matches with only 2/8/18 gm w/ 5-3 VGK win (last goal EN). They never beat us by 7, until gm. 1 (thanks for vexing the Sharks – I’m blaming you for the gm 1 loss).
Please, in the future, don’t rely on your memory, do your homework.
I was accidentally looking into the future.
Jeez,
One game in and people act like the Knights are unbeatable. They really aren’t that good.
Honestly I thought Jones was bad at times in game 2. Two of those goals, #2 and #3 were soft. YES, he made some huge save at key times, but he needs to be better.
The only reason why that game was even close was Fleury. He has been nothing short of amazing so far. They need to get in his grill a little more.
I expect the rest of this series to be much more like game 2.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens if Vegas gets down a game or two. I’m not convinced they can hold up. Especially in a game 7.
Here is an interesting article on PO games played by team.
https://sinbin.vegas/playoff-experience-vgk-not-the-least-experienced-but-definitely-not-the-most/
Obviously SJ is near the top at #2.
We have a total of 1138 PO games played as a team.
Vegas has a total of 480 PO games played as a team.
Vegas’ player with the most PO games = Marc-Andre Fleury. And it has showed.
Elimination games really expose this in a team. And come games 5,6,7… I think the Sharks have the depth and edge.
I am a big fan of PDB and think he’s done a masterful job coaching the Sharks this year. That said, I disagreed with 2 of the lineup decisions he made for game 3. I would have rather seen Ryan in for Martin and I would have kept Pavs as the top line center. If there’s a young player I want on the top line, it’s not Tierney, it’s Meier, who played well on the top line in game 2. I’m really hoping we see Ryan in for game 4, and that Jones finds his game. The goaltending matchup has not been close.
He’s done a good job considering all the injuries. If the top 6 were all healthy, I think the Sharks could beat the Knights. With injuries to Donskoi, Thornton, and Kane, it’s been hard. Martin Jones looks like a different goalie from round 1. He is really fighting the puck and out of position often.
Well, game 4 was a nice rebound for Jones!
Tonight is obviously huge.I still contend it’s more important for Vegas’ chances to win than ours. I still think Vegas looks more frustrated and less experienced especially when they are down.
Basically what I am saying is that if SJ wins tonight I think Vegas won’t be able to rebound.
But if Vegas wins, I still like our chances.
Originally I thought this might be a 7 game series and SJ would have to win a game 7 on the road. That could still happen. Hopefully they win tonight and earn an opportunity to wrap it up at home.
From the Merc: “If the Sharks land Tavares, re-sign Kane and skate Thornton in a depth role, they’ll instantly be among the favorites to win the Cup next season.” As Doug has said, this is crazy thinking and not gonna happen.