So far, things are lining up well for the Sharks
Team’s depth has been key in series against Avalanche
DENVER >> If the right one doesn’t get you, the left one will.
For the Sharks, it means if one line is not scoring goals, one or two others can make up the difference.
At least that’s been the case through the first three games of their series against the Colorado Avalanche, as the Sharks’ top three lines have taken turns leading the offense and exposing the depth disparity between the two teams. The Sharks take a 2-1 series lead into today’s Game 4.
In Game 1, Joe Thornton and wingers Marcus Sorensen and Kevin Labanc led the way with two goals and three assists. In the second game, Tomas Hertl and linemate Evander Kane had a combined four points.
On Tuesday, Logan Couture, Timo Meier and Gus Nyquist combined for eight points, as Couture had his first career postseason hat trick and Meier his first three-point playoff game.
Once the Avalanche figure out a way to slow one line down, like
Thornton’s after the first game, it seems another one has popped up like a hockey version of whack-a-mole.
“That’s what playoffs are about,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Wednesday. “That’s what you need depth for.”
Sharks forwards had a combined 21 goals in seven games against the Vegas Golden Knights. Through three games against the Avalanche, they have nine, and that’s with the power play going 1 for 8.
“We’re a four-line team. We’re deep,” said Nyquist, who had two assists Tuesday. “We need everybody. It’s great that different lines can contribute on different nights, for sure. I think we’re all feeling pretty good about our lines.”
The variety of scorers has helped make up for the absence of captain Joe Pavelski, whose return for this series from a head injury is questionable. DeBoer, though, said Wednesday that Pavelski has started skating again and that nothing has been ruled out. Pavelski was injured late in Game 7 against the Golden Knights.
When Pavelski was out for seven games in last two weeks of March, the Sharks went 1-5-1.
“When (Pavelski’s) been out in the past, we probably haven’t handled it as well,” DeBoer said. “We’ve been exposed a little bit by missing him in different situations. The one thing the group’s done is we’ve gotten contributions from a lot of different guys.”
Colorado has had a smaller variety of contributors, as the Sharks have done a decent job slowing down Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, who have a combined three goals. Those three had nine goals and 21 points in five games in the first round against the Calgary Flames.
The difference against the Sharks is when those players have been limited, there hasn’t been quite enough coming from others in the Avalanche’s forward group.
Matt Nieto has two goals, and Gabriel Bourque and Colin Wilson each have one.
That doesn’t mean, though, other forwards on the Avalanche roster will stay quiet forever.
“We’ve obviously got an incredible top line. Those guys are awesome and they carried us into the playoffs and they’re still carrying us now,” Avalanche winger Alex Kerfoot said Tuesday before Game 3. “You can’t take anything away from what they’ve done, because they’re the reason we’re here.
“But I think we’re also happy with the depth on our team. We know everyone in the lineup can contribute as well.”
DeBoer pointed to the Pittsburgh Penguins team that beat the Sharks in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final as an example of what his team is trying to accomplish — roll out one forward group after another than can apply pressure and generate chances.
Sure, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby accounted for two goals and five assists in six games, but it was the play of others in their forward group — like Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino — that did the most damage. Those three had a combined 11 points in that series, and the Penguins won four games to two.
“It wasn’t Crosby or Malkin a lot those nights, it was their third line with Bonino or their fourth line with Eric Fehr,” DeBoer said. “That’s why you need depth, and that’s why teams with it win this time of year.”