Sharks are still full of bite in playoffs; Warriors’ Coach Kerr takes issue with Rondo’s tripping tactics.
SAN JOSE >> Disclaimer: this isn’t a guarantee. Let’s call it an educated forecast.
The Sharks are going to be a tough out.
After the Vegas Golden Knights took a 3-2 series lead over the Sharks Friday, Tomas Hertl stole a page from Mark Messier’s book, guaranteeing a Game 6 win, saying he believes his team will come back and force a Game 7, “for sure.”
I won’t go that far because I know the only guarantees in life are death, taxes and more inexplicably-stupid behavior from Boston Bruins bad boy Brad Marchand. That said, I’ve spent enough time around this Sharks team to know that they won’t be eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs without putting up a strong fight.”
In the game of word association, Sharks hockey has never been matched up with the word “resilient.”
To the casual observer, the Sharks are synonymous with let down, underachievement and full-on collapse. That will happen when you make the playoffs 12 times in 13 years without win-
ning the Stanley Cup, get bounced in the opening round after capturing the President’s Trophy or become the fourth team in NHL history to cough up a 3-0 lead.
But the Sharks are writing a new history for themselves under head coach Pete DeBoer, who took the team to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season on the job two years ago. Now, they’re scrappy, relentless and unwilling to be put to bed without throwing a temper tantrum.
The Sharks resiliency can be traced back to the team’s veteran leadership group. Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns and even Hertl have experienced just about every situation that playoff hockey can throw at a team minus winning a Stanley Cup.
They’ve been favorites and underdogs. They’ve won Game 7s and lost them. They’ve closed out series and allowed a 3-0 lead to slip through their fingers. In some ways, the debacle in 2014 liberated the Sharks core, made them more fearless. What could they possibly have to lose after suffering through the most-crushing experience in professional sports?
If the Sharks played to “not lose” before, they can only play to win now.
Beyond the core, the rest of the group just
doesn’t know any better. They play with an underdog’s mindset, assuming that no challenge is insurmountable.
The first obstacle was finding a way to replace Patrick Marleau’s offensive production. Losing 27 goals is a big deal for a team that ranked 19th in total offense (2.67 goals per game) last year and failed to produce a 30goal scorer. But with Marleau in Toronto, guys, such as Joonas Donskoi, Chris Tierney and Timo Meier, received more opportunity and capitalized.
Twelve Sharks recorded career highs in goals this season, 11 set career bests in points and five players of age 25 or younger scored at least 10 goals while collecting a minimum 30 points.
Maybe the Sharks are just too young and stupid to know when they’re supposed to be down and out.
“Possibly,” Couture joked back on Feb. 11 after a Sharks comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks. “We’ve got a few stupid guys on the team. Maybe that’s it.”
The Sharks also managed to reach the playoffs after losing Joe Thornton to a major knee injury on Jan. 23. Somehow, they went 7-7-1 without him before general manager Doug Wilson traded for Evander Kane on Feb. 26, allowing the team to push the season across the finish line in a playoff spot.
If you aren’t convinced that the Sharks are a tough out these days, just look at what they did in
the playoffs last season. The Sharks managed to push an Edmonton Oilers squad that came within a game of reaching the Western Conference Final to six games even though Thornton was skating with a pair of ligament tears in his left knee and Couture was playing with his mouth being held together by wiring and plastic.
Friday night, the Sharks gave the world a glimpse of what’s to come, pulling to within a goal of the Knights with less than five minutes to play in Game 5 after trailing 4-0 at the nine-minute mark of the third. They also erased a threegoal deficit in Vegas on Nov. 24 to earn a point, they did it against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 23, as well, and they nearly climbed out of a 4-0 hole against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 18, putting 48 shots on net.
Is there a situation the Sharks don’t believe they can come back from?
“It doesn’t feel like it on the bench,” Couture said. “There’s no doubt in our minds that we’re going to come back and give ourselves a chance to win a game.”
Although Hertl walked back from his guarantee at practice Saturday, it’s clear there’s no doubt in the Sharks minds that they can come back and win this series. At this point, there’s no guarantees on how things will end, but the Sharks won’t be getting eliminated without putting up a good fight.