Boedker has come a long way in a year
SAN JOSE >> Mikkel Boedker found himself in a much different place Wednesday than he did on April 18, 2017. For starters, he was in the Sharks’ lineup.
Just a year ago to the day of Game 4 of the Sharks’ first round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, Boedker was a healthy scratch for what was the fourth game of San Jose’s series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Boedker was scratched twice in that series, following a dismal 26-point regular season, escalating concerns whether he would ever live up to the four-year. $16 million contract he signed with the Sharks prior to 2016-17 season.
After an inconsistent first half of this season, Boedker turned it around and got back in the good graces of the Sharks’ coaching staff. He began shooting more and playing a more direct game, as his speed, arguably his greatest asset, was finally starting to make a positive impact. He finished the year with 15 goals and a modest increase in production to 37 points.
He’s carried that momentum into the postseason. On a line with Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, Boedker had two assists through three games, and has been a part of the line’s success in slowing down some of the Ducks’ leading scorers.
“Played some good hockey so I just have to continue on,” Boedker said. “The last half of the season and going into the playoffs, it’s been more what I’m capable of doing.”
“I think he’s been good for a while, not just this series,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “The second half this season kind of set up the playoffs for him. For whatever reason, he stumbled around and had a hard time finding his game. I think he’s found it now and he’s been pretty consistent for us.”
Part of the reason why Boedker signed with the Sharks, and perhaps took a little less money to do so, was the chance to compete in the postseason, something that he experienced only twice in eight years with the Coyotes. He was also familiar with DeBoer from the 2007-08 season they spent together in Kitchener of the OHL.
“I knew what his game looked like and what it should look like from having coached him in junior, and we just didn’t see it for the first year and a bit that he was here,” DeBoer said. “For me, it’s not just the last two weeks. It’s been the whole second half of the season here that he’s been very good.”
Boedker, Couture and Hertl had done their part in slowing down the Ducks’ top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry, who came into Wednesday with a combined three points.
“You’ve got to embrace the challenge and that’s definitely a challenge. You’ve to play with a mentality of defense-first and then offense,” said Boedker, adding that Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun “have done a really good job. The more offense we can play on their top lines, the better it’s going to be for us.”
• Both teams iced the same lineups in Game 3 they did for Monday’s game, when the Ducks were shorthanded eight times and the Sharks scored four power play goals.
Through three games the Ducks had been shorthanded 17 times and the Sharks down a man eight times. The Sharks had scored six times with the man advantage for a 35.3 percent success rate, third-best among all playoff teams.
“I thought after Game 1 I would have seen a more disciplined team,” DeBoer said. “But you know what, if they want to take penalties, we’ll take power plays all night. Whether they get that fixed or don’t get that fixed, it doesn’t matter to us. We’ve got to show up and play our game and whatever they give us, we’ll take.”
• DeBoer said he saw about the last five minutes of Vegas’ series clinching win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night, but added that he tries to get away from watching hockey when he’s away from the rink.
His favorite diversion right now? The show “Billions,” starring Damian Lewis as billionaire Bobby Axelrod and Paul Giamatti as U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades.
“I’m heavily into the show now. I love it,” DeBoer said.