The San Jose Sharks had a full week off before the start of game 1 in their second-round series with the Nashville Predators...and it showed.

The Sharks, as a whole , were rusty. The passes weren't crisp, the skating wasn't fluid and the timing was off. Nashville, even on short rest, appeared to have the upper hand.

The Predators grabbed the lead in the second period, but even that didn't seem to matter much. The Sharks scored five times in the third to come from behind en route to a comfortable 5-2 win over the Preds.

I expected as much following the extended layoff. As the game went on, the rust wore off. The oil can between periods must have worked... because by the third period it was full speed ahead for the Sharks.

San Jose leads the best-of-7 series 1-0.

***

Logan Couture, Joel Ward and Martin Jones were my three stars of the game.

Couture had two goals on top of his several excellent scoring chances..

Ward scored on a this terrific individual effort to give his team the lead for good. Remember this goal if the Sharks move on in these playoffs.



Martin Jones made 29 saves and improved his record to 5-1 in this postseason.

Jones was as good as I've seen him all playoffs. His positioning was excellent and he made several big save to keep the game close while his teammates fought through their early game doldrums. I'm sure he wants the Mike Fischer goal back but I'll allow him that one because overall his game was very good.

***

San Jose's power play was the difference maker in this game.

The Sharks finished the game 2 for 3 with the man advantage, but it was the sheer dominance of the power play units that turned the tide on Nashville.

The Sharks didn't score on their first power play late in the second period but they used it to build momentum for their huge third period. The Sharks top unit of Joe Thornton, Pavelski, Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau and Couture kept the puck pinned in Nashville's end for almost the entire two-minute stretch, peppering Pekka Rinne with 5 shots on goal.

That's all the Sharks needed to wake them up.

Once the third period started the onslaught was on. Nashville, which had been intent on staying out of the box, took two more penalties in the final twenty and they paid dearly for it.

San Jose scored on both power plays in the third with Hertl and Couture each scoring once.

Going into this series, the special teams were going to be the difference maker and it was. Trust me, it's going to be like this the entire way.

***

The Sharks weren't very good at home during the regular season. In fact they were the worst home team among the 16 teams to qualify for the playoffs.

So why not try a little superstitious mumbo-jumbo to break the home ice curse?



Yep, the Sharks let a little black cat run on the ice. Black cats are normally known for being bad luck, but in this case it may have actually been good luck.

The Sharks won the game of course and maybe, just maybe the home ice curse is broken for good.

We won't have to wait long to find out. Game 2 is on Sunday at the Tank.

If San Jose loses game 2 they should consider breaking all the mirrors in the SAP Center just for the heck of it.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

Join the Discussion: » 24 Comments » Post New Comment

» Sharks offense in heating up; have they turned a corner?

» Radim Simek's return will help, but San Jose's issues run deep

» The Last Place Sharks; Should We Get Used To It?

» Evander Kane helping Sharks get back on track

» Patrick Marleau's big return masks Sharks woes