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SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks said they weren’t rattled before Game 7 against the Nashville Predators.
In their locker room, they cracked jokes and stayed loose before the biggest game of their season. There wasn’t any reason to worry. *
“Guys were laughing and having a good time. I mean guys realize when you’re at the rink, you’re playing hockey, you’re playing a game you love,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “Go out and enjoy it. Game 7s don’t come often, just enjoy it.”
The Sharks enjoyed and embraced every second, every moment of their 5-0 dominating drubbing of the Nashville Predators to reach the Western Conference Final against the St. Louis Blues.
This group believes they’ve developed a strong killer instinct. And they showed it by keeping the Predators, a team that had figured out ways to beat opponents through scrappy playoff survival, neutralized.
“As soon as the puck dropped tonight the guys were going, and it was nice to see,” forward Joe Thornton said. “It was a huge game for us and I’m just glad we came out on the good side tonight.”
After the game first-year coach Peter DeBoer was asked about how he has said this is a different group from the teams that have seen past playoff failures, and he jokingly scoffed. Now that the Sharks have slayed the Kings in the first-round and moved onto a conference final, DeBoer believes it’s time to stop that talk.
“I hope so, I keep saying that and you keep asking me,” he said. “That’s genuine, that’s from our group. This isn’t the same team it’s been in the past.”
The Sharks raced out to a hot start and never looked back.
Joe Pavelski took a feed from Patrick Marleau in front of the Nashville net and fired a shot over Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne to make the game 1-0 at the 9:02 mark. Then at the 16:51 mark, Joel Ward forced a Roman Josi turnover, broke in on Rinne and opened him up with a fake to put the game at 2-0.
Couture’s goal off a Shea Weber turnover 36 seconds into the second period ended any hopes of a Predators comeback. Goals by Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau in the third period came off Nashville breakdowns. In the series, Couture finished with 11 points, which set a San Jose postseason record for points in a series.
In the first period alone, the Sharks outshot the Predators 17-3. They attempted 32 shots to Nashville’s 15. In Game 6 – which included an overtime session – the Sharks attempted 45 shots.
In Game 6, San Jose also held a 2-0 lead in the first period before the Predators eventually tied it up in the second period. They also were up 3-2 in the third period before Nashville tied the game late in the frame to send it to overtime.
The Sharks saw that game as a lesson and tried to make sure those types of breakdowns didn’t happen again.
“We’ve had good starts. The last game we were up 2-0. That’s a pretty good start,” Ward said. “We’ve had good starts. It’s a matter of just finishing. We did a better job of finishing and I think we did a better job of that today and staying with the game plan and everyone contributing and believing in ourselves.”
The Predators were playing their second Game 7 of this playoff and were on their second series against a California team where they didn’t have home ice. This large amount of travel could have led to some exhaustion from the group in this game. *
“I think we got them a little bit fatigued here tonight, which helped but that’s why you play the regular season – to have that type of advantage in a game like this,” DeBoer said. “They just wouldn’t go away. They kept coming and pushed us right to the limit. When we got pushed to the limit, it was nice to see how we would respond because you never know until you’re in that spot.”
The Predators had some chances, but ultimately couldn’t cash in on them to get back in the game. When the Sharks were up 1-0 in the first, Colin Wilson took a feed in front of the net and shot it high over Sharks goaltender Martin Jones. That was the type of play that Nashville had scored on earlier in the postseason to stem momentum. It didn’t happen Thursday.
“They were better than us,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “They were on their toes, on the forecheck, Hounding pucks. It’s disappointing for us.”
Now the Sharks will have to travel to the St. Louis Blues for Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Sunday to deal with another team trying to exorcise their own demons. This playoff, St. Louis is 2-3 in games where they could have moved onto the next round. This is St. Louis’ first trip to the Western Conference Final since 2001, and the last three years they were ousted in the first-round.
Whether the Sharks win that series or not, they believe they’ve answered questions on if this team has the right type of resolve to play winning playoff hockey.
“We’re halfway. Talk after that first series, it was a good win vs. LA. It never gets easier,” Pavelski said. “These teams are all good right now, good goalies. It feels good but we understand it’s a second step. It feels good but we have to keep going.”
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In their locker room, they cracked jokes and stayed loose before the biggest game of their season. There wasn’t any reason to worry. *
“Guys were laughing and having a good time. I mean guys realize when you’re at the rink, you’re playing hockey, you’re playing a game you love,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “Go out and enjoy it. Game 7s don’t come often, just enjoy it.”
The Sharks enjoyed and embraced every second, every moment of their 5-0 dominating drubbing of the Nashville Predators to reach the Western Conference Final against the St. Louis Blues.
Arm in arm, the beards move on pic.twitter.com/Jh2ZnCIkLE
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 13, 2016
From the second they got on the ice it was clear the Sharks were the superior team. There would be no upset in San Jose, no choke jobs like the last time they played in this situation in 2014 when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 at home after being up 3-0 in the series.— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 13, 2016
This group believes they’ve developed a strong killer instinct. And they showed it by keeping the Predators, a team that had figured out ways to beat opponents through scrappy playoff survival, neutralized.
“As soon as the puck dropped tonight the guys were going, and it was nice to see,” forward Joe Thornton said. “It was a huge game for us and I’m just glad we came out on the good side tonight.”
After the game first-year coach Peter DeBoer was asked about how he has said this is a different group from the teams that have seen past playoff failures, and he jokingly scoffed. Now that the Sharks have slayed the Kings in the first-round and moved onto a conference final, DeBoer believes it’s time to stop that talk.
“I hope so, I keep saying that and you keep asking me,” he said. “That’s genuine, that’s from our group. This isn’t the same team it’s been in the past.”
The Sharks raced out to a hot start and never looked back.
Joe Pavelski took a feed from Patrick Marleau in front of the Nashville net and fired a shot over Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne to make the game 1-0 at the 9:02 mark. Then at the 16:51 mark, Joel Ward forced a Roman Josi turnover, broke in on Rinne and opened him up with a fake to put the game at 2-0.
Couture’s goal off a Shea Weber turnover 36 seconds into the second period ended any hopes of a Predators comeback. Goals by Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau in the third period came off Nashville breakdowns. In the series, Couture finished with 11 points, which set a San Jose postseason record for points in a series.
In the first period alone, the Sharks outshot the Predators 17-3. They attempted 32 shots to Nashville’s 15. In Game 6 – which included an overtime session – the Sharks attempted 45 shots.
In Game 6, San Jose also held a 2-0 lead in the first period before the Predators eventually tied it up in the second period. They also were up 3-2 in the third period before Nashville tied the game late in the frame to send it to overtime.
The Sharks saw that game as a lesson and tried to make sure those types of breakdowns didn’t happen again.
“We’ve had good starts. The last game we were up 2-0. That’s a pretty good start,” Ward said. “We’ve had good starts. It’s a matter of just finishing. We did a better job of finishing and I think we did a better job of that today and staying with the game plan and everyone contributing and believing in ourselves.”
The Predators were playing their second Game 7 of this playoff and were on their second series against a California team where they didn’t have home ice. This large amount of travel could have led to some exhaustion from the group in this game. *
“I think we got them a little bit fatigued here tonight, which helped but that’s why you play the regular season – to have that type of advantage in a game like this,” DeBoer said. “They just wouldn’t go away. They kept coming and pushed us right to the limit. When we got pushed to the limit, it was nice to see how we would respond because you never know until you’re in that spot.”
The Predators had some chances, but ultimately couldn’t cash in on them to get back in the game. When the Sharks were up 1-0 in the first, Colin Wilson took a feed in front of the net and shot it high over Sharks goaltender Martin Jones. That was the type of play that Nashville had scored on earlier in the postseason to stem momentum. It didn’t happen Thursday.
“They were better than us,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “They were on their toes, on the forecheck, Hounding pucks. It’s disappointing for us.”
Now the Sharks will have to travel to the St. Louis Blues for Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Sunday to deal with another team trying to exorcise their own demons. This playoff, St. Louis is 2-3 in games where they could have moved onto the next round. This is St. Louis’ first trip to the Western Conference Final since 2001, and the last three years they were ousted in the first-round.
Whether the Sharks win that series or not, they believe they’ve answered questions on if this team has the right type of resolve to play winning playoff hockey.
“We’re halfway. Talk after that first series, it was a good win vs. LA. It never gets easier,” Pavelski said. “These teams are all good right now, good goalies. It feels good but we understand it’s a second step. It feels good but we have to keep going.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper*