Pavelski lessens effect of Thornton loss
SAN JOSE >> Joe Pavelski will take what’s been his usual spot — at least for the last three-plus months — as the Sharks’ top-line centerman for Game 3 of the Sharks’ second-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights today at SAP Center.
Pavelski had to take over the position after Joe Thornton was knocked out of the lineup with a serious knee injury on Jan. 23.
All Pavelski has done in the 41 games since, including playoffs, is lead the Sharks in points (39), plusminus (10), faceoffs (623) and faceoff wins (354), not to mention a spot in the postseason where San Jose has won five of six games. Going into today, he and Logan Couture lead the Sharks in playoff scoring with seven points each.
“He’s a warrior,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Sunday of Pavelski in a conference call with reporters. “He’s the heartbeat of our team.”
Pavelski is used to adjusting on the fly.
The Sharks captain didn’t have Evander Kane on his left wing for Game 2. After the first period Saturday, Joonas Donskoi wasn’t on his right side.
It wasn’t a problem. Pavelski finished with two assists — both on goals by Brent Burns — in the Sharks’ 4-3 victory Saturday that leveled the series at one win apiece. Both goals came after offensive-zone faceoffs that Pavelski won.
Pavelski also screened Marc-Andre Fleury when Kevin Labanc passed to Logan Couture on a power play in double overtime, helping to delay the Vegas goalie’s reaction just enough to give Couture a bit of extra space to score the winner at the 5:13 mark.
Pavelski led all Sharks forwards with 32:07 of ice time Saturday, and took a team-high 25 faceoffs, winning 14.
“Joe Thornton goes down, we put him as a firstline center,” DeBoer said. “He hasn’t been a center in years basically. He’s not really built to be a first-line center.
“He doesn’t ask any questions. “He just jumps in and Joe Pavelski (8) had two assists in the Sharks’ 4-3 victory over Vegas on Saturday night.
gets the job done and leads us to a playoff spot when no one thought we could get there, dealing with that type of an injury. So, there’s not much more to say about him and his character than that.”
Kane, who served his one-game suspension Saturday for cross-checking Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the face after the whistle had blown late in Game 1, will likely be back alongside Pavelski tonight.
Mikkel Boedker replaced
Donskoi on the top line after the first period Saturday, but DeBoer said Sunday morning he hadn’t yet made out his lineup for the third game of the series. With Boedker on the top line, Donskoi was moved to the third line and Labanc was moved up to the second line.
Even though the Sharks scored four goals in Game 2, Fleury still boasts a .967 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average in six games to lead all
playoff goalies.
“It was important that we got to him,” Pavelski said of Fleury on Saturday night. “Once we did in that second period we gained a little confidence and we were able to get going a little bit.”
On Burns’ second goal, which came on a 4-on-4 with 5:53 left in the second period and gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead, Pavelski beat Vegas’ No. 1 center William Karlsson cleanly on the draw.
“Overall, our competition level and details were better,” Pavelski said of Game 2. “They still played a good game and it came right down to the end with a few plays and it went our way.”
• The Sharks may be carrying a chip on their shoulders for the rest of this series.
Asked about how he felt coming back to San Jose with a split after the way the series started, DeBoer said, “I think we feel pretty good. After the way Game 1 ended and Kane going down, I don’t think any of you guys thought we could come out of there with a split.
“Our group felt that we didn’t play like we needed to play in Game 1. We knew we were capable of better. Despite the fact that we had the adversity of Kane going out of the lineup, we knew we could get the job done and we did that.”
Asked later if he and his players were carrying an us “against-the-world” approach before and after the game, considering there was some doubt they could respond, DeBoer said, “I don’t know. I just know that’s the reality of what we’re dealing with here, and we’re OK with that.”