Who gets edge in compelling West semis?
Each team has enjoyed a one-sided shutout win and each has absorbed a 4-3 loss in overtime. What does Game 5 have in store?
The unpredictable Western Conference semifinal series between the Sharks and Golden Knights continues Friday in Las Vegas, and the winner will have a chance to close out the series in San Jose on Sunday.
“It’s going to take a real good game to win there,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said, “and we’re going to have to win a game in there to win this series.”
Game 7, if necessary, would be back at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Only Winnipeg (32-7-2) had more home wins in the regular season than expansion Vegas, which went 29-10-2 and then added two home-ice
wins in the first round against the Kings and another in the opener of this series against the Sharks.
“Obviously, we like playing at home, but we’re comfortable playing home or away,” Sharks center Eric Fehr said. “Line matchups aren’t huge for our team — we kind of throw out the next line and play. That’s important for us going into other rinks.”
The Sharks also can take comfort in the fact they rebounded from a 7-0 loss in the opener to take Game 2 during their last visit to Sin City. And San Jose did go 20-14-7 on the road in the regular season before winning the only two games at Anaheim during its first-round sweep.
“That 7-0 game wasn’t really us out there. We’ve changed a lot of things,” Fehr said. “We’ve done a good job of reeling it in and playing the way we can play. That game was just something
we threw in the garbage and turned the page.”
While making adjustments on the ice to neutralize Vegas’ speed and quick transition, the Sharks also are getting more familiar and comfortable playing in the league’s newest and distraction-filled environment. Clearly, the Golden Knights have captured the imagination of the fans in the Las Vegas area, and the glitzy 18,000-seat arena is on the Strip.
“You get to the last eight teams in the league and you’ll get a big environment wherever you go,” DeBoer said. “Now Vegas is special, there’s no doubt, but I think you become a little bit numb to it.”
The Sharks go into Game 5 near full strength. Right wing Joonas Donskoi, who missed Game 3 with a lower-body injury, returned Wednesday. He rejoined top-liners Evander Kane and Joe Pavelski, and scored with less than six seconds left in the first period to give San Jose a two-goal lead en route to a 4-0 series-leveling win.
“Nobody has depth to take multiple top-six guys out of your lineup and replace that,” DeBoer said of missing center Joe Thornton and Donskoi. “We have the depth to survive short-term and get through some of those situations, but to have (Donskoi) him and Jumbo out at the same time is a tough ask.”
Thornton, who hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury Jan. 23, is not expected to play Friday and it would be a surprise if he suited up before a potential third-round series. San Jose hopes the momentum of winning two of the past three — and, Wednesday, for the first time in regulation in nine tries against Vegas — carries into Game 5.
“We won in there, so that monkey’s off our back,” DeBoer said. “We’re looking forward to going in there and playing.”