When the San Jose Sharks look in the mirror, what do they see staring back at them?
Do they see a second place team that despite inconsistency and an poor home record, they still have a foot firmly in the playoff door?
Or
Do they see a very inconsistent team that can thank a very weak division for giving them a mask to hide their very obvious flaws?
I see the latter.
Following the Sharks latest loss, how is it possible to see it any other way?
San Jose (15-15-2) allowed a tired Chicago (20-11-4) team to rally twice for a win on the second night of a back-to-back in which they had to rally for a win over Buffalo.
The Sharks, who have dropped two-in-a-row on, got goals from Joonas Donskoi, Tommy Wingels and Joe Pavelski. Donskoi (1g, 1a) and defensive anchor Marc-Edouard Vlasic (2a) each had multi-point games.
Martin Jones made 28 saves in the defeat.
I do believe it is safe to say...the road magic is unequivocally kaput. The Sharks are a very average 2-3-2 away from SAP since the "streak."
Yet, they sit in second place in their division. Go figure.
...
A mediocre Division...
Thank goodness for mediocrity.
Not to take anything away from the LA Kings, but the Pacific Division is not what it once was. The division itself has always been considered one of they most competitive in the league. Since 2007, the division accounts for one-third of the Stanley Cups won (Anaheim 2007, LA 2012, 2014), but all is not well in the Pac 7.
Looking back to last season...
- Last season the Pacific was the only division to send the minimum required three teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- Last season it was the only division with two teams to have 62 or fewer points.
- Last season the Pacific had the fewest 100 point teams (2) and the fewest teams with at least 90 points (4). The Sharks ended the year with 89 points.
Some perspective...
- The only other division with as few as seven teams is the Central and all seven of its teams had at least 90 points a year ago...
Fast forward to this season...
- The Pacific Division is the only division with a lone 40-point team, the Kings (42pts). The Sharks have 34 points.
- Five of those same Central Division teams already have at least 40 points this season.
- The Pacific Division is the only division with one team with a positive goal differential, the Kings (+10). The Sharks are a minus-3.
- The Kings would be a bubble playoff team in any other division, yet they lead the Pacific by 8 points.
- The Sharks have played eight games versus Pacific Division foes and again they are a very average 3-4-1.
- The Sharks, and their 34 points, would sit no higher than seventh place if they played in any other division. Think about that.
- The Sharks have the fifth fewest points in the NHL (5 teams tied with 32) and they are in SECOND PLACE!
So what does this all mean?
Mediocrity is the new black.
A win tonight and the Sharks are only six points behind the Kings for first place in the Pacific. With the bar set so low, a very average Sharks team does look so bad after all.
Thanks for reading, Steve