Sharks, Warriors eye playoff foes.
Not giving MVP favorite, 20, ‘easy opportunities’ is San Jose’s top priority
EDMONTON, Alberta — There’s no question the Sharks need to pay close attention to Edmonton Oilers power forwards Milan Lucic and Patrick Maroon in this opening-round playoff series after they combined to score five goals in the last two meetings between the teams.
When Connor McDavid steps on the ice, though, all eyes better be on him.
The Sharks made it to the Stanley Cup Final last season partly because their defensive awareness helped limit the effectiveness of scorers such as Los Angeles’ Tyler Toffoli, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg and St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko.
The Sharks will need to have the same presence of mind to have any chance of slowing the
lightning-quick McDavid and getting past the Oilers and into second round.
“He’s so fast, so skilled,” said Sharks forward Jannik Hansen, who, with Tomas Hertl and Mikkel Boedker, will likely see some time on the ice with McDavid. “You want to make sure that he doesn’t get easy opportunities, odd man rushes — make sure he’s coming through three or four guys.”
NBC hockey analyst Eddie Olczyk liked the way the Sharks paid attention to details throughout their playoff run in 2016. Doing the same against McDavid and the Oilers will be crucial.
“You identify where he is, and you make sure that whoever it might be is in that area denies him the puck,” Olczyk said. “You want anybody that’s on the ice other than Connor McDavid carrying that puck from the most dangerous area of the ice, and that’s the speed zone between the two blue lines.”
McDavid, 20, finished the regular season with an NHL-best 100 points and is the favorite to win the Hart Trophy as the MVP in only his second season in the league.
Since Edmonton won the draft lottery in 2015 and selected the Toronto native No. 1, McDavid has been at the center of the organization’s turnaround, leading the Oilers to their first playoff appearance since 2006.
McDavid’s No. 97 jersey might be the most popular form of apparel in this hockey-mad city, which has again fallen in love with its team after years of disappointment and heartache.
Rogers Place, the Oilers’ sparkling new downtown arena, will no doubt be rocking Wednesday as it hosts its first playoff game.
“This is a tough matchup for San Jose, especially going into Edmonton,” former Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick said, “where they know that building is going to be as electric and loud a building in the National Hockey League.”
Sharks players typically say the greatest way to limit the effectiveness of opposing star players is to make them play defense. On March 30 in Edmonton, the Sharks were nearly flawless in the opening 10 minutes against the Oilers.
The Sharks established a forecheck, cycled the puck in the Oilers’ zone and created a handful of quality chances. Hansen gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead 65 seconds into the game.
But a slow Sharks line change helped the Oilers tie the score. Recognizing an opening, goalie Cam Talbot quickly got the puck up ice to Leon Draisaitl at the Sharks’ blue line. He fed McDavid, who fed Maroon on the doorstep with a slick pass at the 10:22 mark.
The Oilers took advantage of another poor line change by the Sharks with 2:32 to go in the first, as McDavid took a pass from Oscar Klefbom in the neutral zone and beat goalie Martin Jones with a nifty forehand to backhand move for a 2-1 Edmonton lead.
“Puck possession matters a lot,” NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said. “Force (the Oilers) to have to forecheck rather than dominate with the speed that (McDavid) plays with. His speed quotient with the puck on his stick is higher than anybody else’s in the league.”
After McDavid’s goal, the Sharks had to chase the game.
“If we turn over pucks continuously or get caught cheating on wrong sides, it presents challenges,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “We have to play a responsible, detailed game against them. That will definitely allow us a chance.”
The Sharks will not have the last change for the first two games of the series, but that won’t stop coach Pete DeBoer from putting defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun out there against the line of McDavid, Maroon and Draisaitl as often as possible.
Vlasic and Braun were the shutdown pair who limited chances for Toffoli, Forsberg and Tarasenko, and were out there against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final.
“I think just not giving up three-on-twos to those guys, taking away their time and space. All good players, that’s kind of the recipe for success,” Braun said. “(McDavid) gets his eyes up, he’s going to make plays. If you can get on him early, good gap in the neutral zone will be huge.
“Other than that, you’ve just got to play those guys hard.”