When San Jose was bounced from the playoffs in the early rounds yet again last year, the front office promised changes would be made. The acquisition of Dany Heatley was certainly a big change, and has played a major role in the Sharks’ dominance of the Western Conference this season. The Sharks have, once again, rocketed to the top of the West, but only time will tell if this will be the year they are finally able to make some noise in the postseason.
Offense: A The Sharks currently lead the Western Conference in goals scored, and a major reason for that is their lethal top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley. Thornton is, without a doubt, one of the best passers in the game today, and with goal machines like Heatley and Marleau to feed, Thornton is one of the league leaders in assists. Both Marleau and Heatley will finish the season with 40 goals, making the Sharks the only team in the Western Conference able to boast two such scorers on their squad. Ryane Clowe is proving himself to be a very talented power forward, with over 50 points and 100 penalty minutes.
Defense:A The reason many people feel that this year’s playoffs should see a strong performance from the Sharks is the fact that they have a top-10 defense to go with their potent offense. Dan Boyle and Rob Blake are two of the very best at what they do, and Boyle also provides a healthy dose of offense from the blueline. The most telling statistic about the Sharks’ defensive corps? Not a single one of their defensemen has a negative +/- rating.
Goaltending: A Evgeni Nabokov is no stranger to success. He has won 40 games in each of the last three seasons, and has continued his stellar play this season. Aside from his beatdown at the hands of the Canadians at the Olympics, the Russian netminder has been fantastic between the pipes all year. He ranks in the top 10 in both GAA and save percentage, and has a shot at leading the league in wins, depending on how the remaining games play out.
Special Teams: A+ The Sharks may be the most complete team in the NHL when it comes to special teams. They lead the Western Conference with a 22% conversion rate on the powerplay, which should come as no surprise, with Thornton and Boyle given that much more time and space to let Heatley and Marleau get open. However, the Sharks are also great at killing the penalties that they take as well, with an 84.9% success rate. Only St. Louis, Boston and Buffalo have better penalty kills. With so many playoff games decided by special teams play, the Sharks should have yet another edge over whatever opponent they face.