I certainly didn't expect the San Jose Sharks to be the last Californian team standing.

Nope.

Not the way the Anaheim Ducks dominated the NHL from Christmas on.

Nope.

I did not see this coming, especially after just one round of the NHL playoffs. Parity in the NHL is for real and for the first time since 2009 somebody new will be hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup.

Additionally, of the eight teams left standing, only four of them have sipped champagne from the shiny bowl of the NHL's ultimate prize.

Who ends the Cup drought first? San Jose? St. Louis? Nashville? Or Washington?

Thankfully, the 2015-16 Sharks are up for the challenge.

Up Next....The Nashville Predators.

San Jose will go head-to-head with a Nashville Predators team that is fresh off a first-round upset of those aforementioned Ducks. I use the word "fresh" loosely. The Preds needed every second of a physical 7-game series to vanquish the Ducks and now Nashville will have just one day to recoup before heading the San Jose for game 1.

Even a tired Nashville team won't exactly be a cake walk for the Sharks. The Preds had San Jose's number during the regular season.

Nashville won the season series 2-0-1 and have one of the best defensive units in the league with Shea Weber and Roman Josi leading the way. The Preds top pair gave the Ducks fits and forced them to alter their style of play. It was the main reason for their success. They completed eliminated guys like Corey Perry. Perry finished the series with just four assists and was a minus-7 in the 7-game series.

Weber and Josi will try and duplicate that success against that formidable Joe Thornton line.

Nashville's offense was very opportunistic in the opening round. They are like a Venus Fly Trap, patient while waiting for their prey to come to them before striking. They have the speed and the skill to capitalize on bad or in unlucky turnovers. That's something the Sharks have a tendency to do at the worst times.

The Sharks used a balance attack to wear down the Kings. It's the way a Pete Deboer coached team operates. Ten different Sharks scored a goal in the 5-game series with 14 players having at least one point. San Jose got contributions from all four lines. They need more of that, especially if Josi and Weber do their thing against San Jose's big guns.

The Masked Men....

Martin Jones was excellent when Los Angeles could get shots through to him. The way the Sharks D played in the opening round stole most of his thunder. The Kings looked slowed and never really peppered Jones with difficult shots, Can he stay in the moment against a faster Preds team?

His counterpart, Pekka Rinne had a medicore regular season but was huge when he needed to be against Anaheim. His effort in the third period of game 7 was the difference.

The Sharks big bodies created all sorts of chaos in front of Jonathan Quick. Quick had a 3.03 GAA and just a .886 save percentage. More of that in this series and its lights out for Rinne and the Preds.

How The Series Is Won And Lost...

Special Teams.

San Jose's power play is clicking at a nearly 24% clip. It was potent, powerful and painful to sit through if you were a Kings fan. I've never seen a power play look like it was being played in fast forward. The way Sharks moved the puck was beautiful. If they keep that up...wow.

The Preds....hmmmmmm. They scored one power play goal in the seven games. That's a 3.8% efficiency rate. They need to be better. That's all I have on that.

Bottom Line...

This should be another great series. Nashville put it all on the line to eliminate a very good team. But, did they give too much? What do they have left to give? The Sharks are rested and hungry. They have been watching this series and have to be itching to get back at it.

Will San Jose show any signs of rust?

Does the short rest already put the Predators behind the 8-ball?

Are the Preds good enough to beat a team many believe is the best in the West right now?

Will the Sharks be the old Sharks or the new and improved Sharks?

I guess we will find out Friday at the Tank.

Prediction...

Sharks in 6.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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