The San Jose Sharks are one win away from eliminating the Los Angeles Kings. For most teams this position should be a comfortable spot to be in, but not for the Sharks, not with their very historic penchant for collapsing.
But under the guidance of captain Joe Pavelski, the hardnosed leadership of Joe Thornton, effective goaltending of Martin Jones and the dominance of an unstoppable power-play, this is an entirely different season and this series will have entirely different results.
This entire series has a different feel to it. In a series between two very talented and proud clubs, the Sharks are, in my opinion, by far the better team right now.
By controlling long periods of the game and sustaining minutes of pressure inside this the Kings's own zone, San Jose had laid claim to that title.
Los Angeles, as expected, has responded like champions. Despite possesing such a high playoff pedigree, they simply do not have the horses to hang with this Sharks squad right now. The Kings are frustrated and that will lead to their early-than-expected demise.
The sheer dominance of San Jose's power-play will propel them into the next round and finally expel some of those past playoff ghosts and send the Kings home licking their playoff wounds.
Don't be fooled by game 3. Had it not been for an 0'fer on the power play (0-5), this series would have been a clean sweep.
San Jose is doing a lot of the little things that it takes to stop Los Angeles. For example, Joel Ward diving on the ice to block a shot with his stick. Captain Cool fighting off defenders to find an open teammate for a pass, Joe Thornton controlling the power play and running it like Tom Brady runs a two-minute drill.
Martin Jones is making the stops he should and blossoming into the solid netminder the Sharks need to move forward in the playoffs.
Winning this series is not the ultimate prize for the Sharks. They have Stanley Cup aspirations. Winning this series will be the catalyst that gets them closer to that goal. That much issue obvious, but more than that, winning this series will allow the Sharks to move forward in general.
San Jose's last 18 playoff games have all been against the Kings and they have nothing but misery to show for it. There is no turning back....just win baby.
But these are the Kings and they are the NHL'S version of a zombie. Even when they are left for dead they will always rise again to bite your face off.
Rick Grimes has nothing on this Sharks team.
Thanks for reading, Steve