The San Jose Sharks are headed back to the Western Conference Finals for the first since 2011 and they got there by soundly beating the snot out of the Nashville Predators.
San Jose won the game 5-0 and it wasn't even that close. It could have been much, much worse.
The Sharks played probably their most complete game in the playoffs....ever. They were light years better than they were in game 5 and that was an utterly dominant performance in itself.
I expected and actually hoped to take a verbal beating from Sharks fans because of my last blog. I'll gladly take the punches because in the end, the Sharks moved on to play another day and that's what really matters.
So just how dominant were the Sharks in game 7? How about video game dominant.
- SJ out shot the Preds 17-3 in the first period, out shot them for the game 27-20 and out-chanced them 28-18.
- The Sharks scored two goals in the first period and came very close to having four. Brent Burns hit the post on a blast and Joe Pavelski just missed a tip in at the end of the period.
- San Jose scored goals in the first minute of the second and third period.
- The Sharks blocked 22 shots to just 12 for Nashville. It felt like Nashville was suffocating out there. Any time there was a lane to shoot a Sharks threw his body in front of it. It was a total team effort out there.
- Martin Jones was not on his game and still pitched his first career shutout in the playoffs. I can recall at least half-a-dozen times where Jones looked around unaware of the pucks whereabouts. Yet, nothing got by him. Again, a total team effort.
- The Sharks scored two more power play goals, giving them a total of 13 in the 12 games they've played. Logan Couture (4ppg) and Pavelski (4ppg) have combined to score 8 of those goals. Be honest, have you ever seen a power play this deadly, especially in the playoffs. I mean they did have a 4-on-1 rush at one point. Seriously...nuts.
- Logan Couture has 17 points (7g 10a) and had 11 points in this series alone, both are new high-water marks for playoff scoring by a Shark.
- Captain America, #NHL17Pavelski has 9 goals and that too is a new playoff high.
- Eight shots had more than one shot on goal. Couture had a team high 4 shots on goal.
- The Predators did not reach double-digits in shots until there were less than 10 minutes left in the third period.
- Five different Sharks scored a goal (Pavelski, Marleau, Thornton, Ward and Couture.)
- Pekka Rinne shattered his stick on the post after the fifth goal went in. I imagine he was less upset at his play than he was at his teammates. The Predators picked a terrible time to play their worst game in years.
- The shutout was the first of the playoffs for the Sharks.
- Since 2003 there have been 13 Western Conference Finals (2004-05 season was cancelled - lockout). A team from the Golden State of Hockey (California) has had a team there in 11 of those (LA Kings 3x, Ducks 4x and Sharks 4x). That's dominance.
That game was over before it began. I admit I had reservations before it started. I saw what Nashville did to Anaheim, but it's clear to me now that this Sharks team has a much better mental make-up than Anaheim and or any other team. It's time to take them seriously as they head into a tough series against the Blues.
Conference Finals preview forthcoming.
Thanks for reading, Steve Follow me on Twitter: @Faultlinehockey